Dual Realms: OotGaitR
by CountingOurNumbers-Rx
Summary: Billions of years ago, two worlds stood in space, just out of reach of each other. On both, humanity thrives but turns out very different. One became Remnant, the world of Dust. The other, Earth, the world of Magic. For millions of years, they were apart. Then, the Crossroads were created. Now, Harry goes to Remnant, to gain power to save his world but finds something ... sinister.
1. Chapter 0

**Prologue: Strength is Everything**

* * *

From the exclusive interview of James Potter; Strength of Potter;

" _What is strength, you ask? Everything. From what you see and what you don't. My strength is abominable. It will never leave me as long as I do the same. It is my ultimate rule. My dividing power. It is an absolute that will never become undone. None can tell me otherwise. My strength will never have an equal. I will use it to defeat all opposition; no matter who or what it is. I acknowledge the arrogance in the statement. But let me ask you this, have I ever been beaten? Bring me someone who rivals my strength. Who will defeat me in combat. And maybe then, if they beat me, I concur. I will admit my defeat. I will let go of my spirit. My life. My_ _ **Soul**_ (readers are noted that James Potter has put **heavy** emphasis on this word; when questioned, he did not answer) _Then, when I lay beaten. When my streak is ended. When my everything becomes nothing, then will I give you my conviction."_

-James Potter; Excerpt from Strength of Potter; Unedited; noted version.

* * *

"Faster! You need to be faster. Your movement's swift. Your action hard and like lightning. Unseen to the naked eye!"

Harry was on his hand and knees, gasping for breathe with one hand on waist, which flared with mind numbing pain. His eyes were blurry and anytime he looked up, his vision swam until the colors mixed and he couldn't see straight.

Then, for a moment, he was lifted off the ground and was left unbound by gravity. Free falling with no opposition. It was as though the world around him decided he would no longer be with it, that he would ascend to a higher plane above that of mere mortals, where he was the air's master and was free to fly to his heart's desire. Then, he was sent back to the ground, the momentum of the attack no longer keeping him aloft. He was twisting in the air as his attacker's foot sent him from his kneeling position and onto his back, no doubt leaving a bruise.

"Where is your magic? That of which protects to you? You wasted it! Taking too many avoidable hits! You need to dodge them! Do not only think! React! Keep your mind and wits with you! Focusing on thoughts alone will lead to death! They will only slow you down. Look at you! You are defenseless! Easy prey for more attacks!"

Harry could only grit his teeth and groan as the man charged him. When his foot rose up and swiftly came down (in a normal situation, he wouldn't have done anything remotely as flashy), Harry rolled to his left and attempted to stand back up. The tip of the man's boots dug into his ribs faster than he could see it coming. The impact sent him flying once more and he unfortunately landed on shoulder. To his relief, it didn't break but from the feeling alone, he could tell that it was dislocated.

The man sighed and straightened his back. "And you're dead," he said, disappointed. He waved his arm in the air. "That's it! Call it, Remus."

Remus shuffled uncomfortably on his feet and pressed the button on the stopwatch. "... only a ten second increase."

James sighed and motioned for Harry's sister, Iris, to begin healing the wounded boy. The girl rushed over the second James allowed her to, wand and potion storage case in hand. As she sat him up and began diagnosing him, his father sighed again and moved to Remus.

"... it looks as though Harry has reached his limit," Remus muttered, pointing out the obvious.

James frowned. "No man, especially one Harry's age, has such a limit - not at this stage."

Remus gave James his own frown. "You are not like most men, James. Most men cannot take a hit from a troll and still manage to kill it. On his own."

James Potter, indeed was unlike any other man. One could call him a god in comparison, whether in magical or physical prowess. No other person would stand against him besides, just barely, Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort. And only in magical standards.

"Father," Iris said, not even bothering to keep the resentment out of her voice. "Harry's shoulder is dislocated. It must be set before I can begin healing the rest of it."

James sighed before leveling a cool, emotionless stare at Harry. "This will be your punishment for your lack of progress," his voice was just as flat and everyone besides him flinched. There was no enjoyment in it, no malice or malevolence, but the fact he was doing it - the fact that this wasn't the first time and definitely not the last - built up a combination of fear, resentment and horrid feelings.

Harry didn't even complain, knowing that doing so would worsen his ... 'punishment'. Though he did not enjoy it, Harry knew that there was only one true teacher; experience.

James walked to Harry and rested upon his knees. He wrapped one hand around Harry's forearm and the other he placed on his shoulder. Harry breathed in as evenly as possible, but it was a futile attempt in the end. Without a single warning - no twitch or looking into his eye, no countdown or even a breathe - he popped Harry arm back in place.

And Harry's world was drowned out by pain.

* * *

"Okay then," James said as he walked back to the stands.

Harry shakily stood, panting and internally hissing in pain.

"Remus, your turn."

If Harry had not been in as much pain as he was, he'd cheer. His father's combat style was like lightning; hard hitting, fast and invisible. No man on earth could compete. His Uncle Remus' hand-to-hand style on the other hand, was much different and Harry personally liked it.

It was aptly named Feral Instincts.

Like its name implies, it was a style that relied completely on instincts and unpredictable attacks. Speed was still a major factor but Harry had several years of speed training. He was fine in that aspect. He also relied on his instincts more. His father's style replied on practiced attacks that were molded through years of constant practice; trained, organized and designed attacks that left could defeat most, if not all, enemies. A bit like martial arts, but more aimed to kill and permanently incapacitate.

But Harry did not have time; not years or months. Any day, Voldemort could attack. He needed to be prepared.

So, he relied more on Remus' style.

But that didn't mean he was a master at it nor was that good at it in general. Remus, on the other hand, _was_ a master; his lycanthropy only helping him. So, Harry was still easily and swiftly defeated. He lasted longer than with his father. Much, much longer. But not by much.

* * *

"Strength is everything, Harry," James reminded his son as they walked around the perimeter of Potter Manor.

Harry shuffled on his feet as they stopped by the large, empty pond. He, never before, had questioned his father or any of his mottoes. But now; now, he had to get it off his chest. "Why say 'strength is everything' when you tell me - in our training - that speed is most important?"

The man looked barely fazed or surprised. Perhaps he expected the question or maybe his mask was just that good; Harry would never know. "I thought you would know that by now," he scolded none to softly.

Harry just shifted his feet again.

James sighed before staring at Harry, as always - and will always - as emotionless as every time before. "Strength is not the mere measurement of muscle mass nor the ability to push large, heavy entities with your limbs. Strength, as I've said before, is _everything_. Both in what makes it and what it stand for. What it is used for." The man paused and grasped a leaf out of the air. It was a true testament to both Harry's and James' abilities - the fact that Harry didn't even blink when he did it and that James had caught the leaf when it was behind his back. "Strength, in my most popular motto, is the physical abilities I and you possess. This word, in my phrase, is limitless in meaning and extends every day, every time. Boundless by both knowledge and might. Do not get me wrong, Harry. Strength, in this context, are the strengths you do and will possess. Speed, dexterity, agility, might, vigor, endurance, intellect, knowledge, wisdom, awareness, courage, control, charisma, and luck." The man chuckled, the first sign of amusement Harry had heard in many, many months and years. "Or, as your mother likes to put into: Agility, psyche, strength, intellect, vitality and dexterity. Why she orders it like that, I will never know." Oh … that makes more sense, both his motto and why he laughed. This was his mother they were talking about. If James Potter was the strongest man on earth, she was the oddest. "These attributes are what define _strength_ in my motto. Do you understand now."

Harry just nodded.

"Good," James released the leaf - and, in what appeared to be the same motion, stomped it down with his foot. "Do you wish for me to explain my other motto?"

"No," Harry replied and shook his head. "But I am curious of a few more things."

"Oh," James said almost sarcastically. Almost. "This is a surprise. The first?"

"Your gloves," Harry answered.

James froze, just for a second - just in the blink of an eye - his eyes hardened and his fists clenched. Then, it was gone and would probably never appear again. "Ah, I did wonder when my children would ask. Though, I expected it to be one of your younger sisters."

Harry just nodded.

James pulled out his gloves. Completely pitch black bar two emeralds placed on the index and pink knuckles encircled by steel. Another thin but strong bar of steel connected the two attachments. But despite the material, despite its appearance, it _glowed_. Inexplicably so. One could see it in broad daylight and _know_ that all sunlight was being absorbed into the material. At the same time, one could be out in the stars - much like Harry and his father - and could see the _glow_ coming off it. It did not illuminate the area, hardly enough to be seen but still noticeable but the fact that is _glowed_ was _mystical_ enough. Harry knew that it was not magical, at least, not in the same kind of magic he knew. It was _mystic_ , the only word that could describe it. James only brought it out when times were serious, when the tide of battle was not in his favor. And these single pair of gloves changed the tide in the same instance it took to draw it from his pocket. The power within it was immense. So much, Harry had _watched_ it topple a dragon with a single strike. The gloves had only seen battle three times - to Harry's knowledge - and it each time lead to James' victory.

Harry wished to know. Desperate to learn the secret. Of what created it, what made its power. Harry was not naturally greedy or power hungry, but when you are so close to a weapon of ultimate power, one could not help but desire.

"These old things?" James asked with a single raised eyebrow. "There nothing really. A placebo. A mental switch. They are important, though. Hmm, perhaps another time."

Harry couldn't stop his jaw from dropping but managed to quickly recover.

"And the other? Other question?" James asked as he stuffed his gloves back into his pocket.

"Remnant." A pause. "Why are you sending me to Remnant?"

James stared into Harry's eyes, valuing his soul and his question with equal measure. "You know the answer. Voldemort."

The man turned and began walking away. "You should get some sleep. Tomorrow, you are leaving for Remnant. A warrior needs his rest if he wishes to win his battle." A bastardization of one of his mottoes: A fierce warrior needs his resolute to be absolute if he wishes to win his war.

…

" _And that was the last time I talked to my_ father _, James Potter."_

…

…

…

* * *

…

…

…

"When your time comes. When you near your end, Jaune. Remember one thing. Your conviction must be absolute."

These were the words Jaune's grandfather, Alfred Arc, told him, once upon a time. In a far away place; in the old castle of Arc. Where the stones were slowly eroding and the enclosure - the protection - it once offered doing much the same. After he told him that, he had never seen the man again. To this day, he wondered what he meant.

'Conviction'? By its definition, was a personal - at times - declaration of jurisdiction. 'Absolute'? Definite, undoubted and unconditional.

But what, just exactly what, did his grandfather mean? Can he perhaps see Jaune's end? His final moments? Why say that to him? On his deathbed, of all times and places? Jaune sort of wished that he would never know.

…

 _And as he grew older, he continued wished he would never find out._

…

 _But then, came a time and place, where he_ did _know. Where he_ did _find out._


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Other 'Earth'**

* * *

 _ **Time: 11:06**_

 _ **Location: ?**_

 _ **Event: Towards a New World**_

"Harry? You alright?"

Harry sighed as he leaned away from the window, running a hand through his hair. The endless green trees was an exceedingly different sight than what Harry was familiar with; diminishing tall concrete buildings, stained monochrome streets, blaring loud automobiles, and an innumerable amount of metal lamp posts. Indeed, back at home, green trees only existed in small preserves that only a select few could visit in person. To see such an expansive forest was a major shock that had initially left Harry breathless.

'Remnant's industry must be very different from Earth's,' Harry thought with furrowed eyebrows.

Pulling himself away from his thoughts, Harry turned and addressed one of his best friends. "I'm fine," he assured. "Just, you know, taking in the sights."

Hermione's frown disappeared from her face and glanced out the window in awestruck agreement. "Yeah, so much green. It's like those old pictures or paintings depicting what Earth looked like back before we Industrialized."

Harry nodded and once again looked out the window. He was on an 'Airship,' flying over a vast, untouched woodland. He, and many others, were heading towards a certain city named after a certain continent, where a certain, famed school resided. It'd be odd, to say that he had never truly seen a forest, when about 75% of this planet was untouched. But Earth was very different from this place, Remnant.

Remant, an oddly named land that begs the question: a 'remnant' of what? A question Harry and many other Earthly scholars questioned but had yet to receive an answer to. Undeniably, it'd be easy to simply ask a person who lived on Remnant but people from both worlds were much more concerned with other things than the names of their respective world. After all, these two worlds have just been united after thousands of years of separation. Indeed, Earth and Remnant had been two separate worlds floating in space - out of both reach and communication - for centuries until a year ago, when the 'Crossroads' were created, the nearly transparent bridge that literally connected the once separated worlds.

In a frenzy, when the two worlds became connected, people were sent over to find out what was on the other planet. What a surprise it was when they found sentient beings also living on a world very much like theirs, with some immense differences but at the same time, undeniably human. The two worlds almost instantly started signing peace treaties and, over the course of a year, the _Equal Realms; Peace and Harmony Act_ was set. In short terms, both worlds - Earth and Remnant - would send people over to see how said people could adapt to a different world, completely voluntarily of course. And Harry just so happened to be one of those people.

...

Though, Harry would be lying if he said that he had come here entirely voluntarily. At first, he had opposed the idea to going to an unknown world with equally uncertain and dangerous mysterious. It had taken the insistence of his Headmaster to change his mind. Of course, normally, this should have raised many eyebrows and it did, but Harry, after a rather lengthy explanation, completely understood why he need to go. The new world, Remnant, offered training that his world did not have nor had experience with, giving him an advantage. And he needed it. The history behind these reasons was immense but could also be easily summed up:

There was once a prophecy, one that stated that a child born on the end of the seventh month was destined to take down the dark lord at the time. Said boy just so happened to be Harry James Potter. And said dark lord just so happened to be Lord Voldemort, whose reign of terrorism and horror still bears scars to this day. Most believed him to be dead, and he should, but last summer showed everyone that he had returned, using the evilest and foulest magic to bring himself back from the beyond. Initially weak when he rebirthed, Voldemort was getting stronger with each passing day and soon would be back to his full strength as a malevolent monster that showed no mercy or humanity. Harry need to have some leverage if he wanted to have even a chance of winning.

Hermione Granger, on the other hand, had originally wanted to go to satisfy her curiosity and near obsession with knowing everything. Learning that Harry was going only amplified her desire, wanting to keep the boy out of trouble and be there when he eventually did. A friend of Harry's since he began school at Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the two had been through thick and thin. The two had another, good friend, Ron Weasley, but he was forbidden to take part in the _Act_ due to his overprotective and overbearing mother who forbid any of her children to go on the other world and almost tried to do the same with Harry and Hermione. However, she had no say in what they do. Instead, there parents did.

Hermione's parents weren't exactly comfortable with the idea of sending their only child to another world but after much discussion and begging, Hermione was allowed to go. It had taken much more prods until Harry's parents caved in (the combined efforts of the elder Grangers, who reasoned that the two teens would need a friend on the trip; Headmistress McGonagall, who said that it'd be a great learning experience; and Headmaster Dumbledore, who expressed his concerns that Harry would need the advantage of Remnant's battle prowess to defeat Voldemort) and had been accompanied tearful begging from Harry's sisters that had been swiftly and easily denied. And within a month, Harry had found himself on this Airship heading towards a new world filled with new wonders.

…

"Harry?" Hermione asked, pulling Harry from his own musings once more by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay? You seem to be dozing off quite a bit lately."

The seventeen year old took a large breath before answering. "Yeah, I'm good. It's just that, well, Hermione, we're in another world! Totally different from our own if the reports are correct," he said with a slight tremble to his voice.

"Well," Hermione began, removing her hand and looking off before snapping back to focus. "True, there's not many reports on Remnant, and they're mostly about the government they have or the structures they have built. But it'll will be a new experience, one we should cherish and take in with an open mind. We're going to Beacon, which is suppose to be a very prestigious combat school that only the best have been accepted to go to."

"Then why are we going?" Harry rebutted. "We have pretty much no knowledge of this world or how it works, why are we going to an advance school?"

Hermione pursed her lips. "Maybe because we have real life experience with danger and life threatening situations?"

"Erm, can't say that for everyone here," said a familiar voice from Harry's other side.

A quick turn revealed Neville Longbottom, who looked much more nervous than Harry felt and more.

"Oh, right," Hermione said as Harry looked over at the others that occupied the same ship he was on. It was a private Airship, lent out for the purpose of transporting those that came from Earth to there destination. They ship was heading towards it's last stop, having dropping off everyone else from Earth earlier. This meant that the people currently on board were the students that were going to Beacon Academy.

Harry saw several familiar faces; Lisa Turpin, Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, Alexa Runcorn, Lavender Brown, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, (and sadly) Draco Malfoy and Gregory Goyle. Oddly, Malfoy's other goons, Vincent Crabbe and Blaise Zabini, were not present. There were eight other people he didn't recognize but he knew that they went to Hogwarts with him, as revealed by their robes.

'Twenty people. Wow, I thought that more people from Earth would've come to Beacon. And all from Hogwarts? Maybe others didn't get accepted? But what are the qualifications then?' Harry thought with a frown.

"Harry!? Are you listening at all?" Hermione scolded.

Jumping slightly, Harry sheepishly admitted, "Er, no. I got distracted."

Hermione scowled and pointed out the window. "Well, we're almost there. You can see Beacon's tower from here."

True to her word, when Harry looked out the window, he could see a large and tall tower just over the horizon. It was steadily growing bigger with each second. Soon, everyone on the Airship was pressing themselves against the glass to get a good look at the school they were soon to be enrolled in.

"It's magnificent!" Hermione said with wide eyes and Harry nodded in agreement.

The whole thing was on the edge of a high cliff over the city, with a circular landing pad jutting outwards off the cliff. The structure itself was in the shape of a crescent, with four rows of pillars and arches clearly showing the entrance to the academy, in the center of the crescent. Situated in the middle of the entrance plaza was a fountain, with a peculiar statue in the middle. In front of the doors of the school was another statue, but it was too far away to tell what it detailed about. Several other spires, towers and buildings surrounded the largest one, all varying in heights and design. Outside of the academy grounds, were several streams and a large forest that surrounded the entire school.

"It's a bit like Hogwarts, ain't it?" Harry said as his eyes roamed over the landscape once more.

Hermione nodded next to him but said nothing while Neville looked as though he would pee his pants.

Suddenly, all over the windows, a woman appeared. Everyone immediately jumped back, startled by the woman's appearance.

"The Hell!" Harry yelled as he stumbles back, almost tripping. Next to him, Neville fell on his bottom, rapidly crab walking away.

"Language!" Hermione scolded. She looked the least fazed by the blonde woman's appearance. Hermione turned and looked at the woman in awe. "A projection of some sort! Their technology is so advanced!"

Before more could be said, the woman began talking. "Hello, and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." With that, she vanished.

"... What? 'Huntsman'? 'Huntresses'? What do those titles mean?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over chest. "You haven't read all the reports, have you?"

Harry frowned. "I thought I did," he replied back with a shrug.

Hermione sighed and shook her head. "Huntresses and Huntsmen are pretty much the equivalent of our Aurors. They are the guardians of Remnant; their job is to uphold the peace, enforce the laws, protect the people and 'hunt' down Grimm."

Harry nodded, he already knew about Grimm; the soulless, human hating monsters that dominated most of Remnant. "Interesting," Harry said with a small grin.

"Harry," Hermione said disapprovingly. "Just because you can't become an Auror doesn't mean you can be a Huntsmen. They probably wouldn't let you become one as you're from Earth."

Before Harry could retort back, there was a sudden jump that shook the entire ship.

"We're here," Neville said nervously.

 **Preck!**

Harry smiled as his first friend flew through a window and landed on his shoulder.

"Hello, Hedwig. Welcome to the new world!"

* * *

 _ **Time: 11:18**_

 _ **Location: Beacon's Air Docks**_

 _ **Event: A Simple Walk to Beacon**_

The walk to the large structure was mostly uneventful. The Hogwart's transferees couldn't help but admire the sights, taking in the new place they were to be staying at. But halfway to the school, just at the first fountain, a gray-haired man appeared from behind the fountain, holding a cane and white coffee mug. He wore a bright green scarf, a dark green suit and small, black wire glasses. The man took a few sips as the twenty former Hogwarts students approached him.

"Welcome," the man said as the group apparently came close enough. "To Vale, located amusingly in Vale. This is Beacon Academy. You are the representatives of Hogwarts, correct?"

"We are," Hermione confirmed as the group stopped. "Do you mind I ask who you are?"

The man smiled, an almost mischievous glint in his eyes. "Well, for the next year or so, I will be your headmaster."

As Hermione spluttered an apology, Susan stepped forward. "Hello sir, but you have yet to actually say your name."

The man continued to smile and took a light sip from his mug. "Professor Ozpin will do fine."

"Your first name is Professor?" One girl from the group asked amused.

"Indeed," Ozpin deadpanned with a perfectly straight face.

The Hogwarts representatives' jaws dropped, causing the Headmaster to chuckle.

"It truly isn't," he assured, drawing unamused looks from the group. "But it is unimportant."

Harry frowned but decided to not comment. It would not do if he got on the bad side of his new Headmaster. Hedwig nibbled on his earlobe in agreement.

"Come," he said and gestured with his cane to the school. "I will introduce you to Beacon's deputy Headmistress. She will then show you around the school. She will also be the one to begin training you so that you may be … combat ready."

* * *

 _ **Time: 19:27**_

 _ **Location: Beacon's Ballroom**_

 _ **Event: After Dinner Chats**_

"Gah!" Harry exclaimed as he flopped himself onto one of the beds. "Three weeks of absolute relaxations!" Hedwig flew from Harry's shoulder, up and out one of the open windows.

"Why are you saying it like it's a good thing!?" Hermione bemoaned as she sat on one of the other beds. "No school or work to do for two weeks! Why did we even come this early?"

"Who cares!" Harry threw his arms in the air. "We can use this time to explore more of Beacon and that city nearby, Vale."

"I get your point, Harry," Hermione reminded with a frown. "But I still would rather be at home than in some unfamiliar place."

Harry paused and cocked his head. "True," Harry replied. "It would be nice to see my family for a bit longer. My sisters especially."

Hermione nodded in agreement, looking at the ceiling in thought. Just then, the door opened and Neville entered the large room. He was dragging his trunk in one hand and carrying the tank for his pet toad - Trevor - in the other.

A wide smile appeared on his face when he saw the two. "Oh, hey guys!" He shouted with a wave. "You two finished dinner early."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, just wasn't that hungry." He stretched a bit. "I was feeling a bit time-lagged and couldn't eat anything."

Hermione nodded. "It will be a bit before we get used to the different … well, everything."

"Yeah," Neville agreed as he chose one of the beds close to Harry. "I just noticed it. I think I'm usually eating lunch by now."

Hermione glanced at the clock. "And it's only 7:30 PM. About a six hour difference," she said with a sigh.

The door once again opened. This time, the rest of the Hogwarts students entered. Some already had their nightwear on, collapsing onto their beds as soon as they chose one and placed their trunks at the foot of their bed. Other were still in their signature Hogwarts robes, though some were opening their trunks to pull their nightclothes out.

"We should probably change too," Harry advised to the two others.

Harry jumped off his bed and opened his trunk. Harry was a bit startled to see a sword and sheathe laying on top of his clothes, before remembering what it was. Pulling it out, Harry unsheathed the blade within the scabbard, revealing the magnificent blade of the Sword of Gryffindor. Dumbledore (and the Remnant reports) had told Harry that the people of Remnant used weapons to fight the Grimm, including things called 'grums'. He had suggested that Harry should bring the Sword to better relate to the students of Beacon and to fight Grimm efficiently.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed loudly, drawing the attention of the other students. "What is that?"

Harry grinned sheepishly. "It's the Sword of Gryffindor. Dumbledore recommended to take, seeing as … er, Hunters use weapons to kill Grimm."

Hermione shook her head and glared at Harry. "Doesn't mean that you should be drawing it nonchalantly! Your could cut or kill someone!"

"Hermione," Harry deadpanned. "I know how to handle a sword."

"And where did you learn how to do that?" Hermione demanded with a raised eyebrow.

"He probably 'trains' every night with the 'sword' in his pants."

Pausing, the three teens stared at the girl who appeared on the bed next to Harry. Besides black hair that was similar to Harry and bright blue eyes, she looked entirely unassumingly and ordinary. Really, despite being in Harry's year, he didn't think he had ever seen her.

"Shut your mouth!" Hermione scolded.

"Then how will I blow Pott-" The girl began.

"Don't! Finish that sentence!" Hermione growled.

The girl shrugged and turned to the two blushing boys.

"How do you do?" She asked with a mischievous smile.

"Er, good? How are you?" Harry asked with a frown, his red cheeks beginning to diminish. "And, uh, not to be rude but who are you?"

"Daphne Greengrass and I'm doing well," Daphne replied with a grin and slight bow.

"The infamous 'Dirty-Mouthed Pureblood'," Hermione spat with a scowl. "You better watch what you say, Greengrass. With no teacher here, I will curse you without restraint."

The girl giggled, seemingly undeterred by Hermione's threat. "And 'Steel-Wall Granger'. Or do you prefer 'The Know-It-All'? Or -"

In the blink of an eye, Hermione drew her wand and swished it at the girl. The girl sparkled for a bit but otherwise, remained seemingly unaffected.

Smirking, the girl opened her mouth to retort back, no doubt a dirty comment, but no sound came from her mouth. The girl stopped in shock before grinning and, staring directly at Harry, began mouth firing off comments at the speed of light. Harry could not read lips well, but apparently they were horrendously dirty, with how red from both anger and embarrassment Hermione was turning.

"-suck until it explodes," Daphne suddenly said, surprising all four.

"While I despise Greengrass, I can't have you usurping a fellow Pureblood," a familiar voice drawled.

Narrowing his eyes, Harry glared at the newcomer - or rather, newcomers. Malfoy and Goyle stood eagerly next to Daphne's bed, their wands in hand.

"What do you want?" Harry growled, drawing his own wand.

Before Malfoy could reply, Daphne interrupted. "He obviously wants to 'duel' with 'wands.'"

Malfoy stopped dead and glared at her. "Why did I unsilence you. You are literally the worst excuse of a Pureblood. Maybe just as bad as Longbottom and Weasley. _Silencio_ "

Just as Draco waved his wand at Daphne, Harry muttered _Protego_ and a bluish shield appeared in front of the black haired girl, surprising everyone. The blonde Pureblood turned to Harry, pointing his wand threateningly.

"Just leave, Malfoy," Harry demanded. "Before this gets worse."

Malfoy and Goyle glared at the bespectacled boy before sneering and stomping away.

Daphne glanced at Harry curiously. "Why?"

Harry shrugged. "Anybody Malfoy hates is good in my books. Even if you are 'Dirty Mouthed.'"

Daphne titled her head before grinning at Harry. "Does that mean we can fu-"

Hermione had never moved her hand so fast.

* * *

 _ **Time: 05:39**_

 _ **Location: Beacon's Ballroom**_

 _ **Event: Waking Up to the New Day**_

With a groan, Harry sat up in his bed. The time difference was really taking a toll on Harry, and when he cast _Tempus_ , he saw that it was still several hours from when he usually wakes up. Though, glancing at the curtains, the sun had risen. Harry looked around the room and was surprised to see that he was the only one awake. With a soft sigh, Harry quietly got off his bed and tried to open his trunk as silently as possible. Grabbing a change of clothes and - after a pause - the Sword of Gryffindor, he slipped out of the ballroom and towards the locker rooms.

The halls were silent and still, a stark contrast from Hogwart's halls where the paintings and staircases were animate and alive. Harry was truly beginning to feel homesick, both for his real home and his pseudo home, Hogwarts. He missed his sisters - the twin's annoying 'twin talk', Iris and her overbearingness, Violet and her cold but warm authority - he missed them all; he missed his parents and their wise teaching with a hint of caring (even if others including his sisters said that their treatment towards him was definitely over the line of child abuse - he loved them and they the same); he missed Ron and his foot-in-mouth tendencies; hell, he missed his teachers like Binns, who would drone on with surprisingly useful information about battles and war. Sighing dejectedly, Harry shuffled to the locker rooms wondering what he could do until breakfast.

"A problem, Mister. Potter?"

Jumping, Harry dropped the bundle of clothes and sword and pointed his wand directly at the man staring behind him. Raising an eyebrow, the Headmaster sipped from his mug unfazed.

"Guh!" Harry shouted, quickly pulling away his wand. "I apologize, Professor."

"Not a problem," Ozpin replied with a small smile. "But it seems you have one."

Harry rubbed the back of his head. "I'm kind of at a loss on what to do with my time."

"Hmm," the Headmaster hummed. "What about training. This is a school for Hunters." The man paused. "If you know what that means."

The boy shrugged. "Hunters are protectors of the people, right? They 'hunt' the Grimm and stuff."

"'And stuff,'" Ozpin agreed humorously and Harry flushed. "Yes, 'stuff'" He chuckled into mug. "Well, to my knowledge, you are not acquainted to how we fight in this world and we have state-of-the-art training programs with animated automatons including robotic humans and mechanical Grimm that could teach you how."

Harry frowned and rubbed his head again. "Any chance that they will go haywire and try and kill me?"

Ozpin smiled. "No, they won't go haywire. They will still try and kill you, though. That was what they were built for."

* * *

 _ **Time: 07:11**_

 _ **Location: Beacon's Training Grounds**_

 _ **Event: Tutorial**_

" _Combat Training beginning in thirty seconds."_

Harry shuffled on his feet and glanced at his hands. He had wondered how he should hold his weapons. He usually held his wand in his dominant, right hand but it felt awkward holding a sword in his left hand. The weight in the sword made it hard to swing in his weaker left hand but he found that he couldn't accurately cast spells in his left hand either. So, after many trials, he just held his sword in his left hand and wand in his right. He reasoned that he'd be relying on his magic training more than his near-nonexistent skill with a sword. He had also chosen the lowest difficulty setting, at the Headmaster's request, just so he can see where he laid on this scale.

With a whirl of machinery, the floor opened and several humanoid robots rose from the floor, holding staffs, clubs and batons. A loud beep resounded and the machines came to life and began to stiffly walk to Harry with raised weapons.

Harry frowned. If they were moving like that, then he'd need to up the difficulty by several levels. Suddenly, to his surprise, they launched into a sprint and began to surround Harry.

"Well, damn," Harry cursed loudly and he began pivoting in place, trying to keep an eye on all his enemies. "This is gonna be harder than I thought."

One robot stepped forward and leveled its staff at Harry.

"Then again, this is a school for aspiring Hunters."

Two more stepped forward. Then three more. Then six. Then the rest.

"And they are suppose to be the perfect combatants, ready for anything."

The automatons charged.

...

Harry quickly shouted a _Diffindo_ at one robot, splitting it in half at its waist, then quickly spun and _Deprimo_ 'd two automatons. Turning his wand, he fired three _Reductos_ at a group of robots. But he had not been aiming directly at the mechanical men but rather, at their feet. The machines flew into the air and he turned to receive a club head to the face.

Glad that his magic mostly protected him, Harry rolled on the floor and stumbled to his feet. '... I am not read for this.' Harry thought, gritting his teeth. 'But damn, how are the others suppose to do this?' Harry managed to duck under a swing by a staff user but then received the other end of the staff and was set tumbling back. 'Most Purebloods barely lift their wand after they finish school, if what dad says is right.' A hard swing by a clubber sent him flying into a dual batons user, which unleashed a fast, hard hitting combo that sent him towards a wall. 'They'll get slaughtered. Can someone of them even control their magic to protect them?'

As he was getting up on his knees, a thought occurred to Harry. '... does Hermione? Does Neville? Hell, does Daphne?' Clenching his fists and teeth, Harry raised his head and scowled at the machines. 'What going to happen to them? With how hard these guys hit, what's going to happen if these guys get to them? I'm a bit more hardier from hand-to-hand training with Dad and Uncle Remus and dueling training from mom and Uncle Sirius. And my ass is still being handed to me.'

With a slight snarl, Harry got to his feet. 'Here's to my large magic core.' He thought with a slight, false cheer and leveled a fiery glare at the metal men. 'Damn, if the others can't fight for themselves.' He swapped his sword and wand and took a few practice swings. 'Then that means that I have to get stronger to protect them!'

With a roar, the green eyed warrior charged forward.

* * *

 _ **Time: 08:23**_

 _ **Location: Beacon's Training Grounds**_

 _ **Event: After Battle Report**_

Harry gasped and held his sides, his wand forgotten on the ground. The fist that held his sword was clenched and he was able to undo it, his hand seemingly stuck in place.

'Fuck,' the bruised and battered teen thought. 'I did it.'

Ripped metal and shredded technology surrounded Harry. The steel knights were barely recognizable, torn asunder by the enraged and determined mage. Even when they no longer moved - when they were totally beaten - the adrenaline and fury inflamed teen continued to tear apart the automatons until he grew tired.

A _Tempus_ showed that he had been battle for over an hour, surprising Harry. He, while light footed and enduring, had found that he did not have a large amount of stamina so to be able to battle for an entire hour? Or, at least, swing his sword and use his wand for that amount of time. Perhaps … perhaps his magic had fueled his stamina? Heck, now that he thought about it, how was he able to cut through steel? The only thing he could think of was his magic, as amazing as it was. Despite the advanced training he had received and the countless hours of experimenting with his magic, the teen was still learning more every day.

Standing straight, Harry looked at his body and was amazed that he wasn't feeling any pain. He was covered in black and blue spots and he could not see out of his swollen right eye. Some bruises, particularly the ones on his arms, were gashed and bleeding. Looking closer at his sword arm, he saw that some fingers were crushed and pointing different ways. 'Well, my hand is broken … funny, I don't remember getting hit there.'

Chuckling, and wondering if he looked insane, the boy picked up his wand and began casting any healing spells he remembered, though he knew that it wouldn't do much.

'... if I'm this beat up on the lowest difficulty, then how am suppose to protect the others?' Harry bitterly thought, though his smile didn't leave his face. 'Then maybe, instead, I help train the others. So that they may be able to protect themselves.'

* * *

 _ **Time: 08:50**_

 _ **Location: Beacon's Cafeteria**_

 _ **Event: Breakfast and Woes**_

"Where is he?"

Hermione bit her lip and continued to scan the cafeteria. Her best friend and danger magnet was missing and the only reason she wasn't out and searching for him was that Neville and Daphne managed to convince her that Harry wasn't stupid enough to go out and get lost; though Hermione was beginning to think otherwise.

"Sit down Granger," muttered the still sleepy Greengrass. "I know you want to suck off Potter but this is getting ridiculous."

With blazing eyes, Hermione glared at the former Slytherin. "Must you always express your perverse thoughts?" She demanded.

The tired girl, instead of defending herself, just shrugged. "Don't worry, I want to do the same thing."

Puffing her cheeks in anger, the Gryffindor gripped her wand in her pocket. "So close, Greengrass. So close you silencing you."

When the girl shrugged again, Hermione added, "For good."

As Daphne looked amused and Hermione fumed with barely constrained anger, Neville saw his best and almost only male friend enter the cafeteria and, with a gasp and 'eep!', dropped his fork, drawing the attention of the two girls and most people nearby.

Immediately, whispers and loud exclamation were heard when the Hogwarts exchange students caught sight of the Boy-Who-Lived. Covered in bruises and possessing a black eye, the boy looked worse for wear, which did not match the grin on his face.

"HARRY!" Hermione shrieked, causing those close to flinch.

"Hey!" Harry yelled back happily. "No need to yell."

"What happened to your face?" Neville asked with a dropped jaw.

Harry shrugged as he sat next to the trio. "Robots."

"Robots?" Hermione asked. "What do you mean, 'robots'?"

"I went to the training grounds," Harry explained. "Instead of just motionless dummies, Remnant - or at least, Beacon - uses automatons to train students. Much more effective but, you know, really painful." He gestured to his body with a grin.

"Thanks so dangerous!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Again, effective," Harry repeated. "Remember, Hermione, this is an elite Hunter and Huntress school. We can't expect this school to help us with every step. Though, the training is pretty brutal. I got these injuries just on the lowest difficulty."

"What!?" Neville gasped. "But you're pretty much the most battle capable of us all! How are we supposed to not get slaughtered?"

Harry smiled and shrugged. "I suppose I could train you guys," he offered.

Hermione smiled in agreement. "Fifth year again?"

Harry laughed and raised a can of what looked to be a purple juice towards the trio. "You got that right!" He clinked his glass against his friends' and took a sip. "Bleh! What kind of drink is this!? I hate grapes!"

* * *

 _ **Time: 09:21**_

 _ **Location: Beacon's Training Ground**_

 _ **Event: Leading the First Battle**_

"Move left!" Harry advised to the large group of 18 students.

"Don't listen to him! Charge straightforward!" Malfoy demanded.

Harry gritted his teeth and glared at the blonde haired boy as the group split into two forces, the first charged between the destroyed remains of the simulation-created, hologram houses and straight into the mass of metal men. On the other hand, the other half listened to Harry and moved left around the houses and into the more defensive ground better suited for magic users.

Shortly after clinking his glass with his friends', word had spread quickly and soon, most of the Hogwarts tranferees had begun asking Harry for help. This, of course, lead to Malfoy to quickly follow the rest of the students to the training grounds. And Malfoy, being the absolute prick he was, decided he would try and forcefully take command from the recently experienced Harry into his own unpracticed hands.

"Left unit! Circle around and flank the robots. Right unit! Disengage the enemy and take cover in the blue house behind you!"

"NO!" Malfoy roared. "Right unit, continue to fight the metal pieces of junk! Left, fire upon the group!"

Luckily, it seems that not even the very injured right unit wanted to listen to Draco and everyone decided to follow Harry's advice.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Malfoy yelled as the left flank took the robots by surprise.

"Any uninjured fighter in right unit! Pincer the attacker! Take any reasonable cover!" Harry yelled to the closer 'right' unit.

Harry pointed his wand to his throat and amplified his voice. "Left flank! Any student that knows _Protego_ cast it and move to the front lines! Crouch when you get there! Everyone else, fire upon the enemy! Beware of right unit in the blue house! Watch your aim!"

Ozpin hummed when he saw the students begin following Harry's commands while Malfoy fumed and glared threateningly at Harry. "Good strategy, Mister Potter," the Headmaster commented as the wand wielders down in the simulation began tearing apart the steel army. He was quite surprised to see that their magical shield were able to block the physical attack of the simulation soldiers; he would have expected that it would only be able to block magic attacks and maybe to a lesser extent, projectiles.

"Your 'magic' seems to be very different from my Semblance," Glynda added as she pushed her glasses up her nose.

Harry paused. "Semblance?" He questioned.

Ozpin chuckled in response. "We have much to talk about, no?"

Harry nodded before turning back to the battle to see that his 'soldiers' were victorious and had begun celebrating with their friends. Smiling softly, Harry waved at Daphne, Hermione and Neville, glad to see that if they couldn't fight efficiently alone, they were able to stand strong as a combined force.

* * *

 _ **Time: 14:34**_

 _ **Location: City of Vale**_

 _ **Event: Exploring the City**_

Harry breathed deeply as he stepped out the Bullhead, holding his stomach and trying to calm his body. Meanwhile, Hermione and Daphne were laughing loudly while Neville gave him apologetic looks.

"Youngest Seeker in history - adrenaline junkie - lover of Wonski Feints - and death - defying dives, getting - motion sickness!" Hermione managed to say between laughs while holding her sides. Daphne, using Hermione as support, just continued to laugh, barely taking any breathes.

"Shut up," Harry grumbled, then was forced to hold his mouth to keep the insides of his stomach back where it belonged. "Ugh, this is stupid. I wasn't sick in the Airship! Absolute bullshit."

"Bullhead, Mister Potter," Professor Port said as he climbed out said air vehicle. He slapped the back of the sickened boy. Normally, this probably would have thrown him to the ground but he managed to stay to his feet, and amazingly, found that he was no longer motion sick.

"Do remember or else I may need to give you detention." He winked at the bespectacled boy. "Then again, I may be able to tell you stories of my youth! Ah, such a great time! Indeed, I remember a time when I was your age, enrolled into Beacon Academy to begin my career as a full fledged Hunter!"

While Harry continued to listen to the portly man's story, enthralled by it, the other three began walking away, seeing that this man was another Binns, or at least in their opinion.

"Me and my team - and naturally, I was the leader - was sent deep into the Emerald Forest. We were to hunt down a rather savage and problem some pack of Beowolves. OH! I remember the teacher mentioning that an elite Alpha Beowolf was leading the group! If you did not know, an elite Grimm is one that has lived far past fifty years and their bony armor had grown to the point to where it had covered most, if not all, of its body. So you can easily imagine that my team and myself were quite excited to talk this mission!"

The three transferees had disappeared around the corner, not even shooting a glance at their 'fallen' friend. Said boy had conjured a pen and notebook, writing down notes.

"We landed in the middle of Emerald Forest - oh, I'm sure you know the Emerald Forest, right? The forest that Beacon separates from the rest of Vale. Nevertheless, we had first encountered a pair of Ursai." At Harry's questioning look, he added, "Ursai - Ursa in single tense - are large, four limbed Grimm resembling large bears. Earth has bears, correct?" Harry nodded and continued to write down notes. "Hmm, they are massive powerhouses, though very slow when standing up. However, do note that when Ursai get on all fours, they are much fast. Indeed, I have seen one reach speeds near 60 miles per hour!" Harry frowned. He didn't know what miles per hour was in kilometers per hour, Europe did not use nor teach customary system but he still wrote that down and made a mental note to ask Hermione for a conversion; no doubt she would know it. "But back to Ursai's abilities. As I said, they posses strength that can shatter concrete and cut through steel." The teacher tapped his chin, humming and Harry, for a second, thought that the man's eyebrows rose enough to where he thought he could see dull gray eyes. "Their main weakness lies in their speed while standing, their slow, predictable attacks and their rather large blind spots. Ursai have been found to be unable to turn their heads much so it is best to approach them from either behind, below or above. Also - and many Grimm like Beowolves - the back of their knees and elbows are mostly unprotected so it is best to target those spots, even Elites have this weakness. However, do not be fooled. Like many Grimm, their hides are very thick and hard to penetrate so do not let your guard down for a second!"

Harry nodded. "So, slow, strong, hardy brutes, right?" Harry summarized.

Port chuckled and nodded. "Precisely! Hmm, where was I? Ah, yes! My team easily dispatched the two Ursai and we quickly headed North, where the pack of Beowolf was reported to be seen. The terrain was rather nice. We, surprisingly, did not come into contact with any other Grimm on our way, probably fearfully to face a team such as mine! And I must say! Emerald Forest is a beautiful sight in the summer! You must see it!"

Harry frowned and glanced down at his notebook. He wondered if he should put that last part down.

"But to continue, we found the pack in a large valley. They had been traveling though, and we suspected that they were heading towards a nearby village - we would later learn that they had recently lost their chief and were mourning. We decided to engage them directly. With a thunderous! War cry and a motivation speech! We charged straight into the group. My own Blunderaxe must have beheaded a dozen Beowolves in my first, initial swing! Shortly after battling the soulless beasts, I saw that the Alpha Beowolf had retreated to the treeline and was slowly making way towards one of my partners! Of course, I could not let that happen! I charged straight at it, taking out as much Beowolves on my way! When I got close, I saw that, indeed! It was an Elite!"

"How different is an Elite Alpha from a normal Alpha?" Harry interrupted.

Taking it into stride, as though he was expecting it, Port asked in turn, "How much do you know about Alphas?"

Harry shrugged. "I would just assume that I know nothing about Grimm or really anything on Remnant."

The Professor nodded. "I'll keep that in mind," Port acknowledged. "Alpha's are the leaders of Beowolf packs and are usually described as bipedal wolves that large significantly larger than their normal counterparts. They are also more powerful, stronger, experienced, armored and are technically their 'evolved' form of Beowolves, created after years of experience gained."

"How does a Grimm change, exactly?"

"Grimm grow stronger the longer they live and the more battles they survive. In a sense, the more battles they live through, the more powerful, faster and armored they become. They also become smarter, able to learn human patterns, find weaknesses in defenses, lead other Grimm and form groups with them. Indeed, it is always advised that you never leave a Grimm alive, lest they come back more powerful and bloodthirsty than before."

"Why do the Grimm hunt humans?" Harry asked as he flipped a page.

Port paused and peered at Harry. "That may be best answered by Ozpin. I believe that you and Ozpin are going to have a talk tomorrow, no?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, we were going to talk about the differences between our worlds."

Port 'humf'd in response. "Yes, Ozpin should mention that to you. If not, do ask. It is very important to the history of Remnant."

"Noted," Harry replied.

"Where was I? Elites differ from normal Alphas in that they have lived, like I said, over fifty years and their armor covered their entire body. They also usually lead a much larger group, as other Grimm see how long they have lived and how strong they are. So, it is always safe to assume that an Elite Grimm is a pack leader and will never be alone."

"'Pack leaders'," Harry muttered, the cramp in his hands making it harder and harder to write.

"Aye," Port agreed. "Quite horrifying, it is reported that older Grimm are able to strategize similarly to humans, learning from us."

Harry frowned. "That is … worrisome."

"Hmm," Port nodded. "It is odd, almost taboo, to say that Grimm are similar to humans. Trust me when I say that you may wish to never, ever! Say that we have any similarities. It may end badly, either for you or the offended."

Harry just nodded, a far away look in his eyes.

"I believe that is all I can say about Elite Grimm," the teacher said. "Maybe, that they are larger? But that is usually assumed, no? Now, back to my missio-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! STOP!"

"OH!" Port exclaimed. "Come, Mister Potter. It seems that someone is in trouble!"

* * *

 _ **Time: 15:00**_

 _ **Location: A Particular Vale Street**_

 _ **Event: Towards the Cries of Distress**_

When Harry arrived, he immediately zeroed in on his three friends and anger began flooding into his system. A large group of people had surrounded them, anger and shouting. The bespectacled boy saw that his friends were frightened and scared; though a small part of him was proud to see that Neville had placed himself between the angry mob and the girls. But that small part was easily washed away by a fiery fury, a raging inferno that howled for blood. But before Harry could charge, a large, hairy hand was placed in front of him.

"I would advise against that, Mister Potter," Port said, stroking his mustache. "I will deal with this. It seems no one has informed your friends about Faunus."

"... Faunus?"

The large bellied man pointed at a nearby mob member and Harry was startled to see a rather large pair of goat horns on top of his head. "Half human, half animal. Go to your friends and lead them away. I will take care of the crowd." He cupped a hand around his mouth and shouted, "Miss Scarlatina!"

While the mob was distracted by Professor Port, Harry raced to his friends and began pulling them away. "C'mon," Harry said with a grunt. "Before they turn back."

His three friends nodded and hurriedly began following Harry.

Looking back, Harry saw that Port was addressing a rabbit 'Faunus,' patting her back reassuringly while the other Faunus looked on appreciatively.

* * *

 _ **Time: 15:02**_

 _ **Location: Another Particular Street**_

 _ **Event: Explanations**_

"What happened back there?" Harry asked as soon as they were out of sight.

Out of breathe, Hermione glanced at the other two before turning her attention to Harry. "We were walking down the street, window shopping when we saw something … bizarre."

Harry frowned, getting the feeling that Port was right. "Define 'bizarre'?"

Daphne shook her head. "The girl had bunny ears!" She exclaimed.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "A Faunus."

Neville blinked. "Bless you."

"No." Harry shook his head. "That what they are called. Faunus. Apparently, they are half people with animal traits."

"Oh," Hermione said softly and shuffled uncomfortably on her feet.

"But, again, what happened?" Harry demanded.

He noted that Daphne shuffled back while Hermione began explaining, "Well, we were just surprised by the Faunus, since, you know, we never had seen one before." She glanced at Daphne, who retreated more into herself, before continuing. "Daphne didn't believe that the girls ears were real but Neville and myself thought they were. To cut out arguing, Daphne decided to check herself and walked up to the girl and pulled on her ears."

Harry groaned. "And then?"

"A large man, a big cat Faunus or something, came out of a nearby store and pulled Daphne's hand away. I think she was too shocked to do anything and the man pushed her roughly away. Neville and I managed to catch her before she fell to the group. But then, a large group had surrounded us, all angry and shouting."

"That is because Faunus have been subjected to centuries of oppression and harsh racism," Port cut in, leading a familiar bunny Faunus. "Come! We have much to talk about."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Life on These Remains**

* * *

 _ **Time: 12:11**_

 _ **Location: The Emerald Tower**_

 _ **Event: A Discussion on Worlds**_

"Mister Potter." Ozpin raised his mug in greeting. "Take a seat."

Harry nodded and sat across from the gray haired man. He looked around the barren room, the only real things of interest being the gigantic cogs and the matching, clockwork desk.

"Where shall we begin?" Ozpin asked, taking a soft sip.

Harry tilted his head in thought then replied, "Let's start with general information." Harry pulled out a large notebook and pen.

"Hmm," Ozpin hummed. "Humanity is separated into large cities called Kingdoms. This is because the large population of Grimm forces humans into these small enclosures for protection and to continue life. There are small villages spread out through the world however, they have a tendency to disappear overnight ... The Kingdoms are governed by individual Councils that communicate with their people and other Kingdoms. They also dictate combat powers such as their military and the Huntsman in their area."

He brought out his scroll and, after briefly scrolling though it, passed it over to Harry. The teen saw that a map of Remnant was on it. "The Kingdom are Vale, Vacuo, Mistral and Atlas. Mistral is to the east, Vacuo is west, Atlas is north and Vale is in the center. Each are very diverse in nature and society. Humanity's defenders from Grimm, Hunters and Huntresses, have special powers called Aura. Aura is the physical and spiritual manifestation of their souls. It is a source of near magical energy that can be either enhanced or shaped through training. From Aura, a hidden ability that is specific to each person is called a Semblance. Scientist have not found a factor that determines a person's Semblance but some families, like the Schnees and Arcs, have been known have hereditary Semblances including glyph-slash-summoning and complete Aura control. Some Semblances rely on our source of natural-found energy, called Dust. Dust can be found in two main forms, crystal and powder. The uses and capabilities of Dust is endless and more are being discovered every day. However, it is found that new discoveries only lead to more questions. Like I said, Dust is our source of energy and most of our technology relies on it to function. I'm sure you have seen, our technology is fairly advanced. We have gigantic Airships, large comm towers located in each Kingdom (called the CCTS), advanced robotics and state-of-the-art weapons. These weapons range from regular melee weapons to firearms to super mecha-shift machines."

At Harry's raised eyebrow, Ozpin explained, "Most Hunters and Huntresses have personalized weapons that usually, and at the very least, can shift into a second form. Most Hunters' weapon include a close range weapon and a long range weapon to cover both aspects of the battlefield."

Ozpin sighed and rubbed the area between in eyes. "Peter has told me that yesterday, you have met Faunus, correct? We, on Remnant, have a certain problem with our resident half people. Most see them less as actual people and more as animals. Others sympathize with Faunus, often to extreme measures. It wasn't until very recently that there are actually efforts to helping Faunus and equality but this only due to the once peaceful group known as the White Fang became much more aggressive in their methods for fair rights. Indeed, many Faunus are hopeful that Earth is much more open to equality." Ozpin stared meaningfully at Harry, obviously wishing for an answer.

Harry sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "That's … unlikely in some places and very likely in others. The United Kingdom, where I'm from, and Ireland are still having problems giving equal rights to women and see any non-human as beasts that should be treated as such. On the other hand, places like the US and Japan have already overcome these hurdles. They are the most open to new things so if Faunus want equality, they should go there."

Ozpin nodded. "Noted. Where should I go from here? Perhaps medical? Yes. Due to the dangers and brutality of the Grimm, medical technology is quite advanced, ready to deal with any injuries from deep wounds to heart transplants."

A buzz was heard from the scroll in Harry's hand and he gave it back to the headmaster. The man frowned when he received the device and sighed loudly when he finished reading the message. "Sadly, it seems, that we need to finish this talk soon. Perhaps you can begin describing your own world. As with you, general information will do."

Harry nodded. "Earth is the world based on magic, which every single person is born with, though in varying levels. We range these levels from Muggles, who have little to no magic and make up about 50% of our population; to warlocks, who usually have the largest capacity of magic in their country. So far, it seems that the size of one's 'magic core' - and I use this term loosely as it is undefined on where exactly a person's magic lies, some say it lies in people's blood and others in invisible cores inside people's hearts - has no present like genes or heritage." Harry paused. "Does Remnant have religion?"

"I'm afraid that I do not know the term," Ozpin admitted.

"Then I won't go into that. Maybe another time. Our technology relies mainly on Atlantis, a large floating city that resides most of our world's brightest minds and developed most of our technology. Like Dust, most of our technology relies on our magic but factories and vehicles uses fuels like oil to be powered. We have our own terrorist group, called Death Eaters, that believe that all Muggles should be exterminated to 'stop breeding impurity.' Sadly, a large portion of our government agrees with the Death Eaters so no major effort has been made to stop them. We don't have an equivalent to Grimm but there are plenty of dangerous magical creatures, including Dragons, trolls and ogres. Medical wise, we have rather advanced medical technology and with the addition of magic, some state-of-the-art hospitals can perform a heart transplant in seconds, with little to no danger. However," Harry pointed at his glasses. "The eyes and brain have stayed out of the reach of doctors and scientist alike, so complex that magic usually does more harm than good."

"Hmm," Ozpin hummed. "And what of your magic? The science behind it, that is."

Harry chuckled. "Interesting question. There are many curious people that have sought further in how magic works, the history and evolution of human and such. A recent example would be that a man discovered that when conjuring - the act of creating any object through magic -, the object isn't made from noting but rather, small particles called molecules and atoms have chemical and physical structures that are being changed by magic. How is exactly does, I cannot answer. Another example is that a female scientist, using the previous mentioned scientist's discovery, found that when people use Apparition or Portkeys, their bodies actually break down into molecules and use invisible, microscopic tubes that connect everywhere to everywhere to transport people to their desired location. More, in depth studies are being made into this."

"Amazing," Ozpin commented. "Absolutely intriguing. And what of offensive magic? Your headmaster, when he visited, demonstrated that your wands can somehow produce fire. Do you know how this works?"

Before Harry could open his mouth and answer, Ozpin's scroll buzzed once again. A look of frustration and annoyance appeared on his face before the man sighed. "It looks like my time is up." He ran a hand down his face. "Shall we meet, say in two days? Same time?"

Harry nodded. "Sounds good."

* * *

 _ **Time: 20:11**_

 _ **Location: Beacon's Garden**_

 _ **Event: Pondering Free Time**_

As Harry walked back to Beacon's Ballroom, he suddenly remembered something and cursed loudly. "Shit, I forgot to ask Ozpin about the Grimm." He sighed. "Meh, I'll ask again next time."

Harry continued on his way to his room and began to delve deep into this thoughts. 'Man, still two weeks until the terms starts. What can I do? I train everyday with the girls and Neville, so that takes a large chunk of our time; including the sleep that always follows after it.' Indeed every night, bar tonight, the four would rigorously train to just have a sliver of a chance against Remnant's Hunters and Huntress. Tonight, though, Harry had planned to talk with Ozpin and the four decided that they could take a break so he could do so. 'Bummer that Ozpin had to attend to other business, would really would have loved to explain more about magic. Maybe could have called in the others to help. The man seemed really interested in it. Maybe because Remnant doesn't have it, themselves? Still, what should I do?'

He looked out towards Vale. "Hmm, it's still pretty early. Maybe I can go out?"

"Sounds like a good idea."

Cursing, Harry jumped and turned to find Daphne, Neville and Hermione standing behind him. "How did you manage to sneak up behind me?"

Over Hermione scolding 'language,' Daphne shrugged and replied, "We just walked up to you. You seemed pretty deep in thought."

Harry nodded, believing the answer. "Well, how does it sound? Maybe go see a movie or something?"

Daphne blushed slightly and grinned at Harry. "My, my, Harry. This will be our first date, won't it."

Before Harry could reply in his defence, Hermione sharply rapped her on the head. "Stop, please, just stop," The girl practically begged.

Daphne shrugged. "Meh, can't. It's funny seeing you get so mad." She turned back to Harry and smiled mischievously at him. "Still, I totally fuck on the first-"

* * *

 _ **Time: 20:40**_

 _ **Location: Vale's Air Dock**_

 _ **Event: Through the City**_

As Harry rushed to a nearby trash can, Hermione stomped out of the Bullhead, dragging a tied up Daphne behind her.

"One day, Greengrass," Hermione swore. "One day you'll learn."

"Unlikely," Daphne replied, the _silencio_ wearing off.

"I'll make you learn," Hermione snarled back. "I don't care how long it takes or how I need to do so. Whether stick or stone, whips and chains, you will learn."

"Ooo," Daphne cooed. "Kinky."

As Hermione face-walled, Harry stumbled back. "You practically gave that to her," he informed his brunette friend.

"And what will you give me?" The tied girl asked, winking at the bespectacled boy.

"Nothing," Hermione snapped, coming back to her senses.

To avoid another fight, Neville asked, "What should we do?"

"Oh, we should go to a weapon's shop." At his friend's looks, Harry explained, "Well, I noticed that you guys are having a hard time fighting in close range. So I think that getting melee weapons can help."

Hermione and Neville nodded in agreement. "Soundly like a good idea."

Daphne hummed in thought. "I actually want to go to a Dust store. Goodwitch, in one of my detentions, mentioned that Dust can be pretty useful in both close and long range."

Harry brought his scroll. "Hmm, the closest Dust shop is 'From Dust Till Dawn'. It's on the way to a nearby weapon shop."

Hermione nodded. "Sounds good. Let's go."

The group continued on there way, ignoring the looks of other civilians as they stared at the still bound Daphne.

* * *

 _ **Time: 21:04**_

 _ **Location: Vale's Air Dock**_

 _ **Event: Through the City**_

"Gosh, Dust is expensive." Hermione murmured, carry a small bag of dust in one hand.

"No, kidding," a no longer tied Daphne agreed. "I'm glad we have a rich sugar daddy with us."

"I resent that comment," Harry stated, carrying two large bags, one for himself and the other Daphne's.

"Hmm," Neville hummed, a similar bag to Hermione's in hand. "I can't help feel that something was suppose to happen."

"How so?" Harry asked.

Neville shrugged. "I don't know. Just a feeling. Like a higher being far beyond our comprehension wanted something to happen. Like a meeting of similar souls whose fates are intertwined and meant for higher purpose than that of normal beings."

The other three were silent, soaking in what Neville had said with a mixture of befuddlement and awe. Meanwhile, Neville blushed and tried shrinking into his shirt, hiding himself from the rest of the world.

"That's some deep shit, Neville," Harry declared. Hermione and Daphne could only nod in agreement, too shocked to reprimand Harry or reply with a dirty comment.

The group continued on there way. Behind them, a red hood and a white knight entered the shop.

"How far is the weapon shop?" Hermione asked.

Harry pulled out his scroll. "About ten minutes. We need to take the next left and pass through the commercial district."

Hermione nodded. "What weapon are you going to use, Neville?" The girl inquired as they passed by a cane wielding man and his mob-like group.

"I was thinking-"

"Hey, kid!"

Harry paused and turned to look. A man with a cigar and cane peered at him under his bowler hat. "Yes?" Harry replied. There was something familiar with the man but Harry couldn't place it.

"You buy out that shop?" The smoker asked, jerking a thumb at the shop behind them.

Harry snorted and shook his head. "Nope, my wallets not big enough to do that."

The man chuckled in response. "Good, good," he drawled. "That's good."

Harry raised an eyebrow at that but the man turned back, his band of goons following close behind.

"What was that about?" Hermione asked as they began walking again.

Harry shrugged, turning the corner. "Heck if I know. Maybe they need a lot of Dust."

Neville rubbed his chin. "I don't know, that guy seemed familiar."

"I got that same feeling," Daphne said with a nod. "Maybe he's from Earth? And was on the same Airship?"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't think so. He was dressed very stylishly. He has to be from Remnant."

Harry frowned but said, "It's not a big problem."

"True," Hermione agreed. "I still think-"

A loud hum was heard through the air as a Bullhead passed overhead at top speeds. "W-wo-woah!" Neville exclaimed. "That was way too close for comfort!"

"Someone needs to reevaluate that pilot's license," Hermione muttered angrily.

"We should go," Neville pleaded. "I got a bad feeling."

Daphne snorted. "What the worst-"

A loud explosion was heard as the sky lit up. Turning sharply, the group saw that a familiar blonde 'witch' was just dispersing her glyph, standing on a rooftop as an equally familiar Bullhead hovered next to said rooftop. They watched as she attacked the Bullhead and a person from within the flying machine began defending the aircraft, a magnificent display of purple energy bolts, an icicle storm, columns of fire and so much more. The four couldn't help but gawk in awe at the rather impressive display of power; something expected from two mastery-level wizards - or in this case, a top-tier Huntress and an equally powered, unknown assailant.

It ended when the fighter in the Bullhead launched an attack that forced Glynda (and another person with her) to dodge and the Bullhead used the moment of stalled combat to escape, flying fast as a descent broom. The four knew that Glynda could have easily brought down the aircraft if she so wished but doing so would bring about casualties when the Bullhead was forcefully brought to the ground. Especially if the attackers survived the crash and decided to attack civilians in retaliation.

And thus, the Headmistress of Beacon could on watch in barely concealed anger as the Bullhead into the distance.

* * *

 _ **Time: 21:27**_

 _ **Location: A Random Vale Street**_

 _ **Event: Reflecting the Battle**_

"That was awesome," Harry commented as they stood in front of some random shop, having been escorted away by the police as they flocked to the scene of the crime.

Hermione nodded in enthusiastic agreement. "Quite! Absolutely thrilling to see two Hunters battle! Completely dangerous and life threatening but nonetheless, draw dropping."

"Yesh," Daphne said with an eye roll. "Can you be more of a fangirl? And last time I checked, Goodwitch is female."

Hermione snorted as she began to lead the others down the street towards the weapon shop. "I know the Headmistress is female! I just didn't know if the person in the Bullhead was male or female!" Hermione defended herself, crossing her arms over her chest.

"So you don't deny being a fangirl?" Neville asked, actually curious on the answer.

"I absolutely deny being a fangirl! It's just that, if you think about it, in time, we can be just like that! After all, the plan is that we'll stay here for the complete four years," Hermione reminded the black haired girl.

Daphne paused in thought, realising what Hermione pointed out. "Wow … actually didn't think of that." A wicked grin began appearing on her face. "Then I can totally kick my sisters arse!"

"What?" Harry deadpanned.

The perverse girl shrugged. "Astoria is a lot like you, a prodigy in DADA. Every summer, we would go to our aunt's dueling ring and she would demonstrate what she learned and reaffirm how good she was against me and my father."

"Yikes," Harry said with a wince. "That sucks. Getting beat up by your younger sister."

"Nah," Daphne said good naturally. "She terrible at everything else. She mainly just focuses on DADA because she good at it."

"Oh," Hermione said. "But I'm sure that if she tried enough, she could be good at other subjects."

The girl shrugged again. "Maybe. She's just unmotivated. But it's kinda late for that, as Astoria is in sixth year."

"Oh? Really?" Harry asked. "Then that means she's the same age as my younger, twin sisters."

The girl snorted. "You really don't know?"

"What?"

"My sister and yours are, like, best friends," Daphne said with a chuckle.

Harry blinked. "Really?" He asked.

Hermione snorted. "Harry, this year, you need to be more sociable. You're like a hermit crab."

Harry frowned. "I'm fine," he insisted. "Just, not the most outgoing person."

"Harry," Neville interrupted. "Take this from an introverted mess of a guy: you're worse."

* * *

 _ **Time: 21:33**_

 _ **Location: A Certain Weapon Shop**_

 _ **Event: Finding a Match**_

"How does this look?" Neville asked, hoisting a halberd onto his shoulder.

"Nope," Harry said, popping the 'p'.

"What wrong with it?" Neville asked, throwing a longing look at the metal weapon in his arms.

"Doesn't fit you, the thing is too long and your arms too short. It'd be awkward to be wield and swing around," Harry pointed out.

"When did you become the weapon master?" Daphne asked, one hand holding a bagh naka and the other a slim dagger recognized as a schweizer dolch, otherwise known as a swiss dagger. With a flick of her wrist, the bagh naka's blades extended to twice its length. With her other hand, she swung the dagger downwards and a small compartment near the tip opened up. Another curved blade flipped out and the mech-shift completed to form a sickle. "Dual Length Hand Claws and Momentum Shifting Sickle-Dagger," she murmured, reading the tags.

Harry shrugged and withdrew a small booklet from his moleskin pouch. "I'm not but this gives me some basic knowledge. Along with ten other books that I kept in my trunk. Dumbledore thought that it'd be wise to learn more about weapons seeing as how every Hunter uses one."

Neville blinked in surprise. "Ten books? In your trunk? That's something I'd expect from Hermione!'

"Hardy, hardy, har," Hermione said sarcastically as she arrived, a bag in hand. "Good one, so funny. Very original."

While Neville blushed and Daphne laughed, Harry frowned at the bag. "I could have brought that for you."

Hermione rolled her eyes in response. "Don't worry about it. I do have money. Though, I did appreciate you paying for my Dust, seeing how inflated Europe is in comparison to Remnant."

"So what did you buy?" Daphne asked, interrupting before Harry could complain.

Hermione smiled … coyly? "It's a secret." Hermione patted the bag reassuringly. "You'll find out eventually, maybe in training or during Initiation."

"Initiation?" Daphne whined as Neville disappeared behind a shelf. "That's two weeks from now! Are you really going to wait that long?"

Hermione shrugged. "Maybe?" She said mischievously.

Harry shook his head. "First sarcastic? Then playful? What happened to Hermione Granger?"

Hermione snorted. "I can be humours when I want to. I don't always-"

"Have a stick up your-" Daphne began to interrupt.

"Seriously, Greengrass," Hermione snapped. "Not one minute. You didn't last a minute. Must you always be so perverse?"

"It's part of my personality." Daphne smirked.

Hermione gritted her teeth and did not rise to the bait, instead settling with a glare and crossed arms.

"Hey!" The three turned to see that Neville had returned, an oddly lengthed, jousting lance in hand, about a metre long. "Check this out!"

Neville pressed a button on the handle, and the trio jumped back. The lance extended four times its length, becoming a normally sized lance. "Awesome, right? It has more than just this length too!" He asked excitingly. "It's a Multi-Length Jousting Lance!"

"HEY!" The man at the counter yelled to the group. "Didn't you read the sign?! Do go using weapons in my shop!"

"S-so-sorry!" Neville called, returning the lance back to its normal length.

"Don't do it again or you can kiss your ass goodbye!"

"Got it!" Daphne yelled back. With a grunt, the man returned to reading his magazine.

"So," Neville began, once he regained his wits. "Will this work?" He asked Harry, a hopeful look on his face.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You really like that, don't you?"

Neville nodded enthusiastically. "It's really cool! I've never seen anything like it."

Harry rubbed his chin. "I think I remember Ozpin mentioning that most Hunters have something similar, something about how most Hunter's weapon has an alt-form or something."

Hermione nodded. "That a really good idea. A weapon like Neville's allows him to compensate for close and medium-long range."

"Ozpin said something like that, I'm pretty sure," Harry said, remembering.

Daphne grinned, definitely not missing what Hermione said. "Oh? Neville, compensating for anything else?"

Before Harry could facepalm or Hermione could answer back angrily, Neville replied, with a sharp tongue, "Meh, not really. Though, it is really similar to how this works and is just as long."

Silence reigned between the four friends. Daphne's and Hermione's jaws had dropped, Harry was trying his best to not burst out laughing and Neville had turned a bright red, realising what he just said.

"Brilliant," Harry managed to whisper between giggles and chuckles. "Absolutely brilliant, Neville. I'm totally buying you that, just for that."

* * *

 _ **Time: 23:50**_

 _ **Location: Another, Certain Sidewalk in Vale**_

 _ **Event: Another Night**_

Harry sighed as he ran a hand down his face. He was angry and frustrated. While he loved his friends, he could only go so far. Really, he put up with more shit than a toilet, like a brand new one, the ones that are all electronic and has those things that literally shred apart your crap so that it goes down easier. So, Harry was searching for one thing and one thing to relive his rather high, accumulated amount of stress.

A bar.

Or something similar. Really, anything that served alcoholic beverages. While he did have any plans to get absolutely-out-of-his-mind drunk, he did want to drink something, just to take his mind off some things. Mainly Daphne related things. After all, a healthy male could only deny a rather attractive girl's advances so much before feeling the … urge to relent and give in. It didn't help that Daphne was getting more aggressive with her 'offers'. Thouh he still didn't know if the girl was serious or not, either godfather style (which instantiated that while she/her was joking, he/she was totally up for it) or actually, well, _serious_. The teen hoped that a night away from the girl would allow her to realise how much she was affecting him. That, and the bar he hopefully found served something similar to firewhiskey.

Immediately, the boy perked up when he stepped up to what looked like a bar, though surprisingly, there was no bouncer. Shrugging, and concluding that maybe that either the club didn't have a bouncer (as stupid as that was) or he was inside, the teen headed inside.

The teen had totally been expecting a full, totally lively nightclub. After all, it was a Saturday night (Man, it had been real surprising for the two worlds to learn that the other, somehow, used the same calendar system. Totally convenient, but did lead to a bunch of unanswerable questions) so one could easily expect that people would want to use their night getting drunk and such.

So it had been a totally surprise to enter the club only to find a man shooting rockets at a blonde girl …

'... nope!'

With that, Harry turned and head back out.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: True Heroes**

* * *

 _ **Time: 23:52**_

 _ **Location: A Certain Sidewalk Already Visited**_

 _ **Event: Sister Finding**_

"She should be around her somewhere! The tracker is beeping like crazy!"

Jaune ran a hand down his face, not even bothering to question why the slightly younger girl next to him had a tracker on her sister. Because he knew the answer already: the girl's rather overprotective uncle. Seriously, if Jaune hadn't been absolutely great friends with Ruby, the man would have never let him walk with the younger girl, alone, on a Saturday night, in the darker part of Vale, searching for her elder sister. That, and the fact that Jaune's own brotherly instincts were kicking in and had practically demanded to be allowed to help find Yang. And if there was one thing the man could rely on, it was Jaune Arc's brotherly instincts.

…

Jaune had an odd … relationship (though he would never use that word in the same sentence with Ruby in front of her uncle, not even in thought) with the Xiao-Long/Rose/Branwen family. And despite their close bonds, the boy had not known any of them for more than a year. Indeed, the blonde boy had only met the younger girl because of a rather important event that occurred a year ago, namely: the forming of the 'Crossroads'. Back then, the Councils of Remnant had sent some of their best Hunters and Huntresses to Vytal so that they could secure the Crossroads in case anything from the other side was hostile or if Grimm decided that they want to take a trip on the 'Road'. Granted, the latter reason was unnecessary as Grimm had not never visited the landmass, rather they had kept away. In fact, most of the humanity probably would have moved there if not for the fact that, for some unknown reason, Dust did not work on Vytal. And Dust was a necessary resource for humanity.

Which brings everything back; the most promising and best Hunters and Huntresses were sent to Vytal, namely, the ones who did not rely on Dust to efficiently fight. And thus, two very special Hunters, Qrow Branwen and Ulysses Arc, were sent to the Crossroads. Along with a half-a-hundred other Hunters/Huntresses that also included, but was not limited to; Ozpin of Beacon, Minerva Nikos, and Glynda Goodwitch. But besides the point, and because there was a rather large amount of protection and power set around the place (and the fact that the Crossroads literally took an entire month to form), most felt it was safe to bring their kids. Or nieces, in Qrow's case. It had taken a lot more pushing for Ulysses to bring his only son but eventually, two weeks in, he brought his family over. And thus, Jaune Arc met Ruby Rose. And Yang Xiao-Long, but that was rather unimportant for the two.

The two kids had hit it off so well, Minerva would had said that that _Fate_ itself _destined_ the two to met, amusingly as that would be. The two teen had immediately bonded over many things: video games, what they considered fun, sweet snacks, weapons (though Jaune appreciated the more pre-modern weapons while Ruby's obsessed over the opposite), their awesome father(ly) figures, etc. But what really sealed the deal, what really made then two peas in a pod - two halves of a whole, two pieces cut from the same cloth, two socially awkward teens in a high school dance - was their dreams. Indeed, more superstitious people probably would have thought that their dreams were somehow (either through divine intervention or a person's Semblance) connected. They were just that similar. And thus, this led to the two being the best friends in the entire universe, with a bond that could only been broken by one thing and one thing only: love.

But that was a story for another time. Back at Vytal, Qrow had noticed a rather peculiar and worrying thing about the Arc boy. He didn't have his Aura unlocked. The man soon confronted Ulysses and learned that the man refused to unlock the boy's Aura in hopes that he would eventually give up his dreams of being a Hunter. And now, Qrow had personally listened to Jaune's dreams (both from Ruby and the boy himself) and he personally knew that said boy would never give up his dreams, after all, he tried doing the same for his nieces and they almost ended up dead in the process. And so, Qrow decided to change that; for Jaune's sake, his families and, especially, Ruby's since it looked like that the boy would be hanging out with her for a very, very long time. It had taken a lot, from arguing with Ulysses (to the point the man was threatening to send the boy back home so that Ruby would never see him again) and practically begging on Qrow's part until it was decided that Qrow would be allowed to train the boy until Beacon's term started, where he would be tested and examined through Initiation.

To say that the grizzled Hunter was astounded by Jaune's progress would be an understatement. While initially wimpy and useless at fighting (which was expected since the boy had never received any form of combat training), the boy somehow managed to become extremely skilled in a short amount of time. While not on the same level as Ruby, or say Pyrrha Nikos, the fact that he could challenge most of his peers - something that had taken them years to achieve while Jaune had only done so in a year - was absolutely amazing. It was so farfetched, that Qrow had began thinking that, just maybe, Jaune's growth could be the boy's Semblance. But nonetheless, the man decided to not look further into it and was just happy that the boy wouldn't be a burden to his niece.

And it made Ruby extremely happy so that was definitely was a huge plus.

…

"OH!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing the tracker (which totally looked as though someone had stuck a remote controller in a metal potato and wrapped it in duct tape) at a rather ominous building. "She must be in there!"

Jaune rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at the nameless building. "Are you sure? I don't like the look of that place."

Ruby nodded, completely undeterred. "Absolutely! The tracker says so!"

Sighing weakly, the boy followed his friend and gripped Crocea Mors harder, prepared for a fight. Overhead, a crow passed by, beady eyes watching over the pair like a hawk.

* * *

 _ **Time: 00:00**_

 _ **Location: A Certain Sidewalk Near a Certain Club**_

 _ **Event: Heroes Meet**_

And it was when the clock stuck 12.

When the days ended and began.

When beginning became end and vise versa.

When time was not a constant, not even a number. Merely an existence, a placeholder.

When the breathe of life could begin anew.

It was here, on this certain sidewalk near a certain club that was already once visited, that our main heroes met.

"Hello!" Ruby chimed.

Harry nodded. "Hi."

Jaune shrugged in greeting.

The two Hunter trainees passed the wizard, heading for the broken down club. The wizard decided to give up and go look some place else, desperately wanting a drink but too tired to deal with what was happening within the club.

And so, the heroes met. And didn't say goodbye or even meet the other's eyes.

Meanwhile, the crow's beady eyes widened when he recognized the boy below.

* * *

 _ **Time: 00:41**_

 _ **Location: Grow Loot Bar**_

 _ **Event: Getting Drunk**_

"Gah!" Harry exclaimed as he slammed down his glass, rather satisfied with his chugging. "Good stuff."

Definitely wasn't any firewhiskey but the teen was good with it.

The man at the counter eyed the teen once more. He rechecked the boy's ID, just to make sure. But nonetheless, it still said that the boy was 22 years old. The bartender had used several different devices to check but it still came off as authentic and legitimate. So he had no choice but to accept the young looking 'adult'. Of course it had nothing to do with the fact that said boy was carelessly tossing money out of his wallet, not even bothering to see if he was using the appropriate bills. Not at all.

As Harry took another large swig, a man decided to sit next to him, immediately ordering the same beverage as his. A glance to the side revealed a rather imposing figure: a large sword on his back, a tattered red cape, nice gray dress shirt and stylish black pants. Harry repressed a shiver when he saw the man's eye's; red pupils. It was definitely nothing like Voldemort's pure red and pupilless but nevertheless, the monster's eyes still haunted the teen nightmares.

The man received his drink and, like Harry, immediately took a large swig of it, nearly downing half of it in one gulp.

For a few solid moments, the two stayed silent, attention on their drinks and analyzing each other.

"So …" the man began, nursing his drink. "You James Potter's kid?"

Harry froze and it took all his willpower to not draw his wand. Instead, he use side of his eye to peer at him. "And what of it?" Harry grunted.

The man shrugged. "Nothing. Just met the guy when the Crossroads were created."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "He met plenty of people when the Crossroads formed. Are you special in some way?"

The man chuckled and shook his head. "No, not really." He took a sip of his drink. "Just remembered him saying that his son was sixteen, not twenty."

The bartender froze and slowly turned to glare at Harry. The teen shrugged and glared at the man sitting next to him. "And for you information," Harry snarled. "Earth doesn't have as strict drinking laws." Still, he stood and left the rest of his drink on the bar, stomping out of the bar.

Qrow sighed and finished the rest of his drink. Shaking his head, he followed after the teen.

* * *

 _ **Time: 00:53**_

 _ **Location: A Certain Sidewalk Near a Certain Bar**_

 _ **Event: Confrontation**_

He was following him. Harry knew that well. He could feel his presence, his red eyes on his body. He could feel the chills. The subtle touch of fear. He noticed how, rather oddly, a crow would follow him from rooftop to rooftop. And Harry was no stranger to people shift shaping into animals so he knew very well that the man was following him. For some reason, he was tailing him and most likely not for a good reason.

'What the hell does he want?' Harry wondered, keeping to the open streets. But the man seemed undeterred, still following. 'Two blocks, almost three. What does he want?'

If the man truly knew his father, then he probably wanted to kidnap Harry and use him as leverage against him. While Harry loved his father, he also knew that he tended to be a braggart and often boasted his achievement. And if the man believed his father, of course he would go after a boy that looked like a younger copy of him.

'Beacon is on the other side of town, will he let me get that far?'

Apparently so, as a minute later, the crow disappeared behind a building and, in the next second, a red rocket crashed into his stomach.

* * *

 _ **Time: 00:56**_

 _ **Location: Somewhere in Vale**_

 _ **Event: We Meet Again**_

Ruby Rose was running. This was no surprise, as she absolutely loved to run. If she were to scale it, she would say that running ranked four. Crescent Rose was, of course, number 1. Strawberries was second. Third was cookies. And though she never would admit it, Jaune Arc was fifth but it looked like he would take 'running's' place. Not that she'd tell him or say it out loud.

But Ruby was running. She was running from her sister, Yang, who couldn't been a more prouder sister. And why was she proud? Well, Ruby had just told her, that against all odds, somehow managed to get into Beacon Academy two years early. And of course, like any proud sister, wanted to show how proud she was. In the form of affectionate adoration and hardy headlocks.

"NNNNOOOOO! You'll ruin my hair!" Ruby yelled in a much higher pitch, the Doppler Effect distorting her voice.

"But Ruby! Being possessive over hair is my thing!" Yang yelled back, chasing her speedy sister. Behind her, an exhausted knight followed.

"But I worked so hard and long on it!"

"Oh?!" Yang called back teasingly. "Did you do it for a certain someone!"

"YAAAANNNNGGGG- ooomff."

And it was at this moment, that Ruby Rose messed up. It was at this moment, Ruby Rose crashed into Harry Potter.

…

Harry groaned when he woke up, automatically raising a hand to his head.

"I'M SO SORRYYYY!" A rather obnoxious voice shouted directly into his ear.

Flinching away, Harry glared at the culprit. A black haired, cloak wearing, young girl with bright silver eyes. And oddly (and it wasn't just the voice), she reminded him of his sisters.

"Who?" Harry murmured back.

"Oh, man, I really hope your alright. It's amazing that you're not injured when you don't have your Aura unlocked but it's still very worrying as there could be internal damage but we don't know nor can we tell so I don't know if I did anything really wrong or something and I just real-"

"Ruby!" A blonde woman placed her hand over Ruby's mouth, efficiently stopping the girl. "You're talking the guy's ear off!"

"HMphMph," the girl murmured into the girl's hand.

"Was that any apology?" Harry asked slowly, still dazed.

The blonde removed her hand and Ruby quickly drew her cloak around her, hiding her red face from Harry. "S-sorry," she whispered, staring directly at the ground.

While Harry couldn't help but be amused, another blonde - this time male - stepped forward and crouched next to Harry. "You feeling alright?" He asked. "No lightheadedness or anything like that?"

Groaning, Harry stood and took a few steps. "Other than a slight headache, I feel fine."

The boy looked surprise. "Really? No injuries at all? Ruby was moving pretty fast. You don't have your Aura unlocked, right?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I don't. To both questions. And I don't need Aura since I have magic."

The blonde female's eyes widened. "'Magic'? Oh! Wait," the girl turned and lightly tapped the top of Ruby's head. "Man, Rubes, you could have caused an international incident! This guy is from Earth!"

Harry chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't think it'd be international. Intergalactical or intersolar-system, maybe. And I wouldn't worry about it. I have a bunch of magic and it's pretty protective."

"Huh," the blonde boy said. "'Bunch of magic?' How does magic work, if you don't mind me asking."

Harry sighed. "That … will take a long time to explain. Maybe another time."

The blonde girl tapped her chin. "If you're from Earth, that means you are either a politician or going to Beacon, right?"

"Representative would have worked better but, yeah, I'm going to Beacon."

"Great," she clapped her hands. "All three of us are going to Beacon, too! We can talk then."

Harry raised an eyebrow and pointedly looked at Ruby. "Ain't she a bit young for Beacon?"

"Yup. You are looking at the youngest girl to ever get into Beacon." the boy said while Ruby blushed and murmured something into her cloak.

Harry couldn't help but chuckle at that and the blonde girl raised her own eyebrow. "Oh, something funny?"

Harry shook his head. "It's nothing. It's just that I had a similar title back at home."

The boy smiled. "Sounds like an interesting story. But you'll need to tell us at Beacon, I'm sure these two's uncles are worrying about them."

"You're not related?" Harry asked, looking between the two blondes.

"NO!" Ruby shouted before either blonde could say otherwise. "Only me and Yang are related!"

Harry smiled in amusement while the blonde, most likely Yang, chuckled and ruffled Ruby's hair. "Yeah, it may not look like it but we are related, half-sisters, if you are wondering."

The boy shrugged. "And I'm a close family friend." He thrusted his hand out. "Jaune Arc."

"Harry Potter," and he took the boy's hand.

* * *

 _ **Time: 11:12**_

 _ **Location: Beacon's Training Grounds**_

 _ **Event: Burning Excitement**_

Harry swung his training sword at Neville, aiming to score a light hit. The teen raised his wood lance in response, stopping the sword in its tracks.

"Two more days!" Neville shouted, thrilled that the long wait was almost over.

Harry grinned in response and disengaged from Neville, barely ducking under a following swing. "Yeah! Soon, we can show how-" The boy stopped to block another attack. "We've come! These Hunters better not take us too lightly!"

Hermione chuckled from the stands. "I don't think they will, Harry. Why would you think otherwise?"

Harry deflected two jabs and use the flat side of his wooden sword to divert Neville's lance into the ground. "Because, we're from-" Harry followed up with two solid swing's to the brown haired boy's chest. "Earth! And most people know that we don't-" He blocked an overhead swing only to receive a boot to the chest. "Use melee weapons!" He shouted to his friend while rolling.

"I don't think that's an entirely valid reasons, Potter," Draco snarked from his seat. "We are far superior-" he said nothing more as Glynda shot him a withering glare that he shrunk back from.

Getting back on his feet, Harry took a lazy and unrefined fencer's stance, pointing his sword at his charging friend. He wanted to try something and by the looks of it, this was the best time to try it. Neville led with the point of his lance aimed directly at Harry's chest, kept steady with both of his hands. Once it was close enough, Harry slid one side of his blade against the lance and, when the point of it hit his guard, forcefully pushed down and the wooden lance was ripped out of Neville's grip.

Neville stared between his empty hands and the wooden weapon on the ground, blinking in shock. "Harry!" He shouted. "That was awesome! Where did you learn to do that?"

Harry chuckled and leveled his sword with Neville's chest, signalling the end of the battle. "One of the training manuals that Dad sent over. Who knew that the Potter were once fencers?"

The crowd of Hogwarts transferees clapped softly as the two fighter picked up their weapons, bowed to another and exited the dueling ring. "I must say," Glynda began, holding a large scroll in her hands. "The both of you have improved significantly since you arrived. Though, while the two of you are clearly the best Earth fighters, Mr. Potter is still better at fighting. If only barely."

Harry smiled and bowed in response. "Thank you. We have both trained very hard."

"Hmm," the woman hummed, turning back to the rest of the students. "Who's next?"

"I'd like to try Potter in a wizard duel!" Malfoy demanded, standing up with a wand in hand.

Goodwitch frowned. "Mr. Potter just finished a fight. And a rather lengthy one at that. You better-"

"It's alright, Mrs Goodwitch," Harry said with a wave of his hand. "I'm fine. I can do another duel. And the last one, we didn't use our wands and I know I'm getting rusty with magical dueling." He grinned directly at Malfoy. "I'd be happy to train some with my fellow wizard."

Goodwitch's frown deepened but she reluctantly brought out Draco's gauge and placed it next to Harry's onto the big screen. Harry's was slightly emptied, his magic being spent protecting him from Neville' blows. Luckily, Harry had a rather large reserve of magic so he, despite all the hits he had taken, still have at over 7/10's of a bar left.

"Let us begin, then."

Draco and Harry stepped into dueling ring, wands at the ready. However, unlike every time Harry had dueled the boy, there was no smug smirk on his face. Rather a look of cold determination was on it.

'What is he planning?'

"Mr. Malfoy, are you ready."

The teen did not answer, just nodded and took a popular dueling stance with his wand high above his head.

"Mr. Potter, are you ready?"

Harry nodded too and took a similar stance.

"Then begin!"

" _Diffindo_!"

" _Protego_!"

Draco's curse splashed against Harry's shield, followed by a _Reducto_ and _Deprimo_. Both spells dissipated harmlessly against his sturdy and strong shield.

Dropping his shield and dodging a jelly-leg curse, Harry waved his wand and shot his own cutting curse. The blonde teen expertly dodged the magical blade and retaliated with a quick shot Confundo, which Harry easily dodged by shifting his head to the left.

The two stared at each other down. They both knew that the other was holding back, previous dueling clearly proving this fact. Like Harry said, it had been quite some time since they had last used their wands as Glynda was practically forcing the Hogwarts transfers to use melee weapon to better accommodate for Remnant's fighting styles. The two were merely testing each other, gauging how 'rusty' they actually were.

Harry broke the standstill by waving, flicking and pointing his wand at Malfoy, and shouted " _Sacrecurum_!"

Above him, a blinding spear of light appeared and began spinning. With a whirl, it launched itself forward. Malfoy barely dodged out the way, the spear of light singing the hairs on his left arm. He launched a _Confringo_ back at Harry before twirling to regain his balance. Sidestepping the spell, Harry shot a _Diffindo_ and Malfoy responded with his own cutting curse. The two spells smashed into each other and exploded into a burst of blinding light. Neither teen stayed still and they threw themselves to the side, sending curses at where their opponent previous was. While Draco managed to land on his feet, Harry rolled and reflexively brought up a shield. Not a moment later, two _Confringos_ smashed into it. Blinking to regain his eyesight, Harry turned his attention back to Malfoy.

" _Ardeglomerus ..._!" With a loud _buzz_ , a ball of fire appeared in front of Malfoy's wand, slowly growing in size. " _Mittus_!"

The fireball flew at Harry at a rather slow pace in comparison to other spells. But Harry knew better and immediately dropped his shield, knowing the body sized shield would not protect him from the slowly approaching bomb. " _Ferresalebrem_!"

A wall of metal appeared in front of Harry and the fireball detonated. Luckily, the metal shield was specifically made to deal with such attacks and absorbed and withstood the explosion. Moving around the conjured wall, Harry shot another spear of light. While the spear flew, Harry charged behind it, murmuring " _Ignilorus_ " under his breath. A fiery whip appeared out the top of his wand, extending until it was about the length of a sword.

Seeing the incoming attack, Malfoy brought out up a shield to take the spear then quickly dropped it and jumped back, the fiery whip burning through the air a second later. Harry did the same moments later as a spear of ice stabbed itself upwards. Harry tried slashing at Malfoy again but again, he dodged it.

It was almost an even match. The two had been dueling for far too long to not recognize the subtle signs given off by the other's body. Harry cut off his whip of fire only to drag his wand downwards, aiming to _Incendio_ the blonde. He answered with another shield, the flames bouncing harmless of it. As soon as the Incendio died off, Draco didn't even fully wait for the shield to dissipate and instead uppercutted Harry in the jaw.

"Mr. Malfoy!" Glynda shouted.

But Harry quickly answered by kicking Draco in the stomach, throwing him back. "Let's do this!" Harry roared savagely.

Malfoy rolled to a stop and _Aguamenti_ 'd the incoming _Incendio_ , steam soon covering the battleground. As the flames and water vanished, Harry rushed through the steam and delivered two punches to Malfoy's face. He retaliated with a kick to Harry's knee followed with another uppercut. Stumbling back, Harry sent of a _Diffindo_ and managed to nick Draco's side. He hissed in pain and _Deprimo_ 'd Harry to the other side of the arena.

"Both of you! Stop this! This is suppose to be a wizard's duel!"

Neither listened to the false witch and charged towards each other, sending spells along the way. Fists and feet soon followed and the duel, instead a battle of wits and skill, became a match to see who could hit harder and dexterous enough to land a spell. And surprisingly, Draco was beginning to win. Like Goodwitch forewarned, Harry was starting to tire out, not magically but physically. And it showed when Malfoy landed a kick to Harry gut and a solid cross to his face. Rolling and groaning, Harry drew back to the other side of the ring. The two once again began staring at each other, measuring how injured the other was.

Harry sighed when he saw how bruised his body was in comparison to Malfoy's. "Damn, I've got to give you credit. You've managed to beat me pretty bad." But he chuckled, causing the blonde to narrow his eyes. "But you've forgot one thing, this is a battle of magic, not fisticuffs." He pointed at the screen and Malfoy's eyes widened when he saw that he had less than a quarter left while Harry had around half a bar.

"Hey, Malfoy?" Harry asked, twirling his wand between his fingers.

With still narrowed eyes, Draco answered. "What? Surrendering?"

Harry shook his head. "No, definitely not. But quick question: do you mind if I try this new spell?"

Harry grinned when the other teen tensed, getting into a more guarded stance. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on your magic and make sure not to kill you. It's just, that you actually know how to use your magic to protect you so, just a fair warning. Oh, and everyone else? May want to back up."

Before Draco could reply, Harry raised his wand high above his head. " **Ambus-** " Harry shouted and began drawing wide circles with his wand. " **Ticl-** "

Malfoy's eyes widened "NO!" He shouted, bringing up the largest, most powerful shield he knew.

" **Ingas!** "

"That's Dumbledore's signature spell!" Someone shouted from the retreating crowd.

" **Maximus!** "

And thus, the world was drowned in fire.

…

A ring of fire, Glynda noted. A massive, mighty ring of fire. Of pure, absolute, consuming power. It roared into her ears and heated the air to high temperatures. Most people probably would have disintegrated to ashes if they came into contact with it. It was only the translucent purple shield that separated her from the fiery death.

She used her Semblance to protect herself but even with her decades of training and honing, her telekinesis shield was starting to falter. She looked down at her scroll and nearly dropped it when she saw that Malfoy's magic gauge was dropping rapidly. He'd be empty within ten second at this rate. Potter's, on the other hand, was declining much, much faster. With a raised eyebrow, she saw Potter's and Malfoy's magic gauge reach zero at the same time. Hmm … she double checked to make sure the camera's had caught the battle. The Headmaster would want to see this.

* * *

 _ **Time: 17:35**_

 _ **Location: Beacon's Medical Wing**_

 _ **Event: Aftermath of Flames**_

"I lost?" Harry deadpanned. He was covered from shoulder to toes in bandages.

Something he had totally forgotten was that he usually fainted when he used 'Fire Enclosure' from exhaustion. So, rather unfortunately, he had been severely burned by his own spell. And thus, he had been knocked out for three days straight. Luckily, his magic had most healed him and would be fine by tomorrow.

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, because you fainted and Malfoy managed to stay awake, he was declared the winner. Which also how he managed to come out mostly unscathed." Indeed, the blonde only had burns on his arms so he only had to wrap those in salve and bandages and was then sent free.

"Damn," Harry cursed. "I got too cocky."

Daphne snorted. "That's an understatement!" Hermione glared at her but she ignored it.

Harry sighed and clenched one fist. "I really thought that I could have defeated Malfoy with that." He let out an explosive breathe and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, so much for looking cool and badass."

Daphne shook her head. "Again, cocky." Then, she leaned closer to Harry. "But I have to ask, did Dumbledore really teach you that spell?"

Harry grinned and responded by placing a single finger on his lips.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Here Be Monsters; Where the Story Begins**

* * *

 _ **Time: 14:51**_

 _ **Location: A Certain Beacon Airship**_

 _ **Event: Beacon Arrival**_

"WE'RE HERE!" Ruby yelled, directly into Jaune's ear.

Flinching, Jaune reflexively stepped back and dug the inside of his ear with his ring finger. "Ruby," he murmured with a pain filled groan.

"Sorry," she giggled, using a hand to cover her mouth. "But Jaune! We. Are. Here. BEACON!"

Jaune nodded slowly, almost hesitantly. "Yeah, we are."

Approximately a year ago, if one were to ask Jaune Arc if he ever thought he would ever go to Beacon … he'd probably still say 'Yes?' because he was optimistic and idiotic like that but his skill (or lack thereof) would say otherwise. Seriously, abysmal it was. But now? After learning under a professional Hunter (who was also a combat teacher) and training with two aspiring Huntress (one of which was a prodigy in Grimm slaying)? After being able to behead and bisect Grimm like nothing? He'd definitely say 'Yes!' again, just more confidently.

For the young knight, it was literal dream come true. It helped that he had gained several friends on the way.

"What are you doing!?"

Oh … apparently while Jaune was recounting his greatest achievement in life, Ruby had: lead him from the Airship (wait a minute! He hadn't gotten motion sick! Awesome! The power of being distracted!) to the walkway of Beacon, began fangirling over other student's weapons (no surprise there), gotten abandoned by Yang (... meh, the girl has always been a popular girl and always encouraged Ruby to get more friends) and tripped into a rather crabby yet beautiful girl's luggage.

"S-sorry!" Ruby shouted, instinctively crab-walking towards Jaune.

"'Sorry?' Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?" The girl glared at Ruby, who shrunk back more.

Jaune, who was both admiring the girl's beauty and getting annoyed at her anger towards Ruby, decided to step in. "Er, look," he stepped forwards, drawing both girls' attention. "I assure you, Ruby didn't mean to-"

"I don't care if she meant to or not," the girl shouted. "I care that she could have blow us of the cliff, you dolt!"

Ruby stood, getting very annoyed very quick. "HEY! Don't get mad at Jaune! He was just trying to defend me! Who do you think you are?"

The girl snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm so sorry," she drawled sarcastically. "Tell me, why should I care for a nobody like him? He's just another wannabe, white knight!"

"Well, he no 'nobody'," another girl walked to the scene, an almost amused eyebrow raised. "He's an Arc, and if memory serves correct, he is the only Arc son; Jaune Arc."

While the snow princesses eye widened, Jaune just shrugged, already used to the recognition. "How did you know?"

"The two golden arc, on your sheath. And your looks; it is well known that all Arcs have blue eyes and blonde hair."

Jaune couldn't help but chuckle and the black haired girl turned to Ruby. "And to answer your question, she's Weiss Schnee; heiress to to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of our energy propellant in Remnant."

Weiss, recomposing herself, smiled and nodded at the other girl. "Finally! Some proper recognition."

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners," the girl added with a smug grin. The knight and reaper couldn't help but snicker at that burn.

"Wha-" Weiss started, turning red from anger. "How dare you! The nerve of... Ugh!"

Weiss turned and stomped away, her servants picking up the suitcases of dust and following her soon after.

Jaune shook his head, though was a bit saddened to see her go. She was really beautiful; maybe next time her saw her he would apologize and hope that they could become friends. With that in mind, he turned to the still unnamed girl.

"Thank you for helping us back there. Jaune Arc." She knew his name but he hoping she would introduce herself.

The girl paused, tilting her head slightly. "Blake. Blake Belladonna." With that, she walked off, pulling a book out from quite seemingly nowhere.

"And I'm Ruby Rose!" said girl yelled to the leaving Blake. "Well, I suppose I'm still at zero; one negative friend and one positive? Maybe?"

Jaune laughed and patted his friend's shoulder. "Well, you still have me, right?" He chuckled once more and added in an after thought, "And Yang too." He began walking towards where Weiss, Yang and Blake walked, believing that was the way to orientation.

Behind him, Ruby blushed and smacked both hands onto her cheeks, muttering something under her breath.

* * *

 _ **Time: 15:06**_

 _ **Location: Beacon's Auditorium**_

 _ **Event: Orientation After**_

"..."

"Well," Harry began, rubbing a hand through his hair. "Ozpin really seemed out of it."

He was used to Ozpin downright trolling ways so to see him so … distant was a bit jarring.

Hermione shrugged. "Maybe he's nervous about Initiation tomorrow?"

Daphne frowned and shook her head. "I don't think so. He does that every year, right?"

A girl next to Hermione, named Lisa Turpin (someone who became rather fast friends with the group but especially resonated with Harry), tapped her chin. "Right, but I asked around Vale and apparently Initiation can get pretty dangerous. I think some kids have lost their lives before."

Harry shook his head and sighed. "Goes to show what happened to those that weren't prepared enough," he muttered darkly.

Hannah Abbott, who sat rather close to Neville, shuffled uncomfortably. "That was rather … glum."

Susan Bones nodded, though. "But still truthful." Eyes turning towards her, she continued, "Remember in our sixth year? When the Death Eaters tried taking over Hogwarts with the help from those seventh years? A bunch of students tried stopping them but ended up getting killed." She sighed and slumped into her sleep. "It took those from the DA - those with training - to stop them."

The gather group remained silent, soaking in what the red haired girl said.

"YO! Harry!"

The group jumped in their seats and turned to see a group of three walking towards them.

"Oh, Ruby, Jaune, Yang. These are the three I met that one night," he introduced the three Hunters/Huntresses to his group. He began pointing at one person after another "Guys, this is Hermione, Daphne, Neville, Hannah, Susan and Lisa."

"YO!" Yang said again. "Xiao-Long since we've seen each other, hasn't it? Eh?"

The group of witches and wizards stared in confusion and the girl while the Remnant guardians face palmed. "Yang!" Ruby groaned.

"Bad. Pun," Jaune deadpanned into his palm.

"... can you tell us how that is a pun?" Lisa asked.

"Yang's last name is Xiao-Long," Jaune explained.

"Oh," Harry said. "Yeah, not a good pun."

"Oh? Is that so, Pun-Master?"

Harry paused. "Well, to be honest, not many of my friends like spouting pun so-"

"Then don't go judging!" Yang said smugly.

"Ahem!"

The group turned to see Glynda Goodwitch standing behind them, an unamused look on her face.

"Ms Goodwitch!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Hmm," she hummed. "Do leave the auditorium and follow the tour group, _please_."

"""Yes, ma'am,""" the group chorused together.

* * *

 _ **Time: 21:44**_

 _ **Location: Ballroom**_

 _ **Event: Slumber Party!**_

"Look at all the hot guys!" Yang exclaimed, shamelessly grinning at the multitude of shirtless guys.

Though, she did notice that guys from Earth looked rather uncomfortable and a group of four even glared at jealously at the Remnant boys. Glancing sideways at Ruby, she was unsurprised when she saw that the reaper was staring directly at the ballroom entrance, waiting for a certain someone to enter.

Chuckling, Yang ruffled Ruby's hair, drawing angered cries. "You and your crush," she teased.

"NNOOO!" Ruby complained, throwing off her sister's hand. "I don't have a crush on Jaune!"

Yang's grinned intensified. "Jaune? Who ever said anything about Jaune?"

Ruby faced pillowed, groaning louder. She even went as far as to throw one of her pillows at Yang, who expertly caught it.

Yang decided to take pity on her sister and went back to guy watching, only to see a certain knight. "Oh! Ruby! Look! Jaune's wearing that pajamas you got him!"

Heading snapping up faster than light, Ruby looked up - only to blush brightly and slam her head back into her pillow. Jaune Arc was currently making his way towards the two, wearing a black onesie with a silver scythe and a single rose head printed on its front. Ruby had given it to him when he had been officially accepted into Beacon, knowing very well that she was essentially 'claiming' him, as per Yang's advice.

"Hey, Ruby! I'm wearing the gift you got me!" Jaune waved at his friend, who refused to look up, much to his confusion. "Er, what's wrong?"

" _nothing_ ," she insisted, voice muffled by the pillow. Yang could see that her blush had somehow traveled to the back of her neck and was slowly spreading to the rest of her body.

Jaune frowned and glanced at Yang. "It's nothing, Vomit Boy. She's just excited for tomorrow and really wants to fall asleep so it comes quicker," Yang explained, flawlessly coming up with the lie.

"Doesn't help that she continuously munches on cookies," Jaune pointed out with a chuckle.

When no answer came from the red girl, Yang shrugged. "C'mon, Sir Knight. Let's get to bed."

"Going to bed so soon?"

The two looked to see Harry standing behind Jaune, wearing black jogging bottoms and a plain black shirt.

Jaune shrugged. "Might as well, nothing to really do."

"How about a quick duel?" Harry asked. "I have yet to fight a fighter from Remnant!"

"HARRY!" Hermione scolded as she stomped forwards. "No fighting! Not yet! You need your rest for tomorrow."

Harry snorted and waved a hand. "I'll be fine, don't worry too much."

Daphne frowned from next to Hermione. "She's right, Harry. You're our best fighter, we kind of need you at your strongest since, you know, we'll die." She suddenly grinned. "I'm sure I can - ... get you tired enough to fall asleep," she finished innocently, glancing only briefly at Ruby.

Jaune blushed at the comment, Yang looked on appreciating, and Harry face palmed. Hermione only sighed before binding the girl in ropes and dragged her off to their beds. "I'm expecting you to see you in bed in ten minutes, Harry."

Daphne's face visibly brightened. "You just gave me that!" She exclaimed with bright eyes, only to be silenced by Hermione.

Harry waved at her. "See ya."

Yang grinned. "I like her," she declared. "That was Daphne, right?"

Harry shook his head. "Yeah, she is. The weirdest Pureblood out there. Besides, maybe, Luna Lovegood. But just barely."

"Well," Jaune tilted his head. "That was something."

"Dolts!" Weiss said as she stomped towards the group. "Can't you see that some people are trying to sleep?!"

Harry glanced at the group of wrestling boys, who continuously grunted and groaned loudly. "Er, sorry, I guess."

Weiss turned to glare at him while Yang scowled and crossed her arms. "You're that 'snow princess' that Ruby mentioned, aren't you?"

Weiss frowned and glanced at the (still!) pillow-stuffed girl. "I admit, we got off on the wrong foot," she relented only to glare at Yang. "I still know that it was entirely her fault! The idiot should look where she is going!"

Harry frowned and glanced back at the beds, or more specifically, Draco Malfoy. "I think I know a guy that you'll get along with … or really, really hate."

Weiss scowled at Harry. "Oh? And what makes you say that?"

"You're both annoying, uptight, have your noses pointed upwards, etcetera, etcetera," he explained, causing her to turn bright red.

"Harry," Hermione deadpanned as she walked up to him. "Please don't go insulting world famous heiresses. It won't end well." She turned to Weiss. "I apologize for my friend, Weiss Schnee."

Weiss cooled off slightly at that while Harry turned and frowned at her. "She's another Malfoy."

Hermione glared lightly at him. "You've only talked for, what? Five minutes?"

"True, but I began hating Malfoy in that same amount of time," Harry defended himself.

"Who's this Malfoy?" Jaune asked.

Harry pointed at the white haired boy. "Him. He even looks like Schnee, doesn't he?"

Weiss scoffed and cross her arms. "My hair is a thousand times better than his. Mine doesn't even require that many products to look good!" She flipped her hair as though to prove her point.

"Agreed," Jaune said almost automatically, causing Weiss to blush slightly and Yang to frown and glance at Ruby.

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "Wow, maybe you're not that bad after all."

"She's still uptight and arrogant," Yang reminded.

Harry snorted. "Not as bad as Malfoy. And considering I haven't killed him yet, I think I can handle her."

"Excuse me," Blake said as she walked up, holding a book to her chest.

Jaune smiled at the girl. "Hello, Blake. How was your day?"

Blake blinked in surprise for a moment before a neutral look replaced it. "Fine. But you do realize that it is time to sleep, correct?"

"Oh," Jaune said sheepishly. "Sorry. She's right. We should go to bed."

Harry chuckled. "Sure, nice meeting you, Blake. Not so much you, Ice Queen."

He immediately received a chop to head courtesy of Hermione while Weiss huffed and walked away. Blake just rolled her eyes, waved at Jaune and walked back to her corner. And with that, she blew out her candle, effectively drowning her side of the room in darkness.

* * *

 _ **Time: 8:21**_

 _ **Location: Ballroom**_

 _ **Event: It's!**_

"It's morning! It's morning! It's morning! It's morning!"

Harry blearily opened his eyes and glanced at the source of the sound. A orange haired girl was literally bouncing around the room. A fairly Asian looking teen- which was weird as Harry was certain that Asia was located in his world and, to his knowledge, there wasn't any equivalent in Remnant (once again, an unanswered question) - just sighed as he followed the girl out of the ballroom.

"I can't believe we've been at Beacon for a full twenty-four hours! Not that I thought we'd get kicked out or anything, I mean, you're the perfect student and I…"

As the two left, Harry just blinked, still sitting up in bed.

"... That was something."

"I know, right?"

Harry turned and saw Daphne was also awake and sitting up, a book in hand. "Morning," she waved.

"... hi," he deadpanned.

Daphne rolled her eyes. "I see you're still not accustomed to the new time?"

Harry groaned. "No," he said. "Just not a morning person. In fact, your aren't either. You're usually still sleeping and Hermione is needed to wake you up."

She shrugged in response. "Yeah, woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall back to sleep. To jittery."

"Just don't let it get to you," Harry advised. "You need to be rested enough for Initiation. If needed, you can try falling back asleep. It doesn't start for another," he swiftly casted _tempus_. "Three, four hours."

"I'll be fine," she assured.

Harry frowned. "Don't be stubborn. People have died in this, remember?"

She was quiet for a moment before asking, in an unnaturally serious tone, "You'll protect me? Right?"

Harry blinked in surprise, not knowing where that came from. "Of course," he replied, barely missing a beat. "I'll protect all of my friends."

Daphne smiled at him and his heart fluttered in his chest. "Thanks, Harry. You're truly a great friend."

With that, she placed her book on the ground, turned over and was asleep in seconds.

Harry just stared at her sleeping form, too shocked to do otherwise. With confused sigh, he turned to look at Hermione, only to find her grinning at him. "That was nice of you," she said cheekily. "A bit stalkerish at the end but sweet nonetheless."

Harry scowled at her. "Don't go saying thing like that. People could get the wrong idea."

She shook her head, still grinning. "So tsun-tsun," she teased, confusing Harry. The girl has been watching a bunch of anime since she had arrived and had picked up on some terms. "Still, you are truly a great friend."

Harry sighed. "Thanks, I suppose. Don't have many friends, do I? But I do cherish you guys. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you. Especially if it was on my watch. I guess what I'm trying to say is that: I really appreciate having friends, you especially, Hermione. You've stayed with me since the beginning, even in my toughest and darkest moments."

Hermione paused and tilted her head. "You still having nightmares about Quirrell?" She asked, knowing very well what his 'darkest moment' was.

But, to her relief, he shook his head. "No, they haven't shown up since fifth year, mainly because Voldemort replaced them. But I guess I'm over it now." He sighed and leaned back into his pillows. "It still appears occasionally in my thoughts but nothing too serious."

It was a true testament to Hermione's loyalty and willpower that she didn't even flinch at Voldemort's name. "We're here for you, Harry. I know I can't comfort you the same way Ron did but I will always be your friend. I'll be with you until the end."

Harry just stared at her, wondering where to go from here. "Man, I don't know how to respond to that. I kind of wished you hadn't said that, after all, you still have your own family."

Hermione blushed and scoffed lightly. "You _are_ part of my family, Harry."

Harry smiled at her, thankful that he had such a great friend. "Same, Hermione, same." He couldn't help but gaze around the room, just briefly stopping on the forms of Jaune, Ruby and Yang. "Who knows, maybe one day, some of these guys will-" He stopped suddenly, eyes bulging slightly out of his head.

Hermione frowned in worry. "What's wrong?"

"That girl," he whispered and nodded towards said girl.

Hermione jumped on her bed and blinked in shock. "She look like …"

The girl had scarlet red hair, alabaster skin and emerald green eyes. But it wasn't the fact that she was draw-dropping beautiful or that she was longingly staring at the sleeping form of Jaune (as weird and stalkerish as it was) but the fact that she looked was an exact copy of:

"My mother," Harry finished.

The Lily-look-alike seemed to have noticed there looks as she turned and faced them, a slight blush on her face. From here, Hermione could see her eyes flickering back and forth between the two and Jaune.

Playing it cool, Hermione raised an eyebrow and waved towards Jaune. The girl just blushed brighter and walked out of the room, holding her burning cheeks. Harry just watched her go, still shocked.

"Well, that was something," Hermione couldn't help but say in an amused tone. "Do you think it would work? You and her? You do look exactly like your-"

"No," he deadpanned. "Absolutely not. That just weird. Stop. Please."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

 _ **Time: 11:29**_

 _ **Location: Locker Room**_

 _ **Event: Locker Room Set Ups**_

Jaune grinned when he entered the room, immediately seeing a certain 'Snow Princess. ' _Here's my chance!_ ' He thought to himself.

' _Nothing can come between us now!_ ' Weiss thought excitedly.

Only to be forcefully torn from her (slightly evil and scheming) thoughts when a certain knight walked up.

"Hello, Snow Princess. Long time no see," he said with an accompanying wink.

Weiss groaned and sighed into her hand. "What do you want, dolt?" She asked, picking up her head to glare at the blonde.

He shrugged. "Like you said last night: we got off on the wrong foot. So, let's start over. I'm Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."

Weiss face palmed again. "Do they?" She questioned with a scoff, crossing her arms.

"I do," Pyrrha proclaimed, physically entering herself between Weiss and Jaune. "Pyrrha Nikos. It's been a while, Jaune."

Jaune blinked in surprise. "We've met?" He asked the Amazon.

She nodded eagerly. "At the Crossroads. Or Vytal, to be more correct."

"Oh," he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry for not remembering you."

"It's no problem," Pyrrha assured. "It has been quite some time since we've last talked. I had hoped we would see each other sooner but I am glad to see you, nonetheless."

Though Jaune did not see it (Weiss certainly did), the girl was clearly thrilled to see the knight again. If the girl was more adventurous and just slightly more desperate, she'd be hanging off his arm with an adoring look on her face.

"Wait," Weiss shouted, pushing the two away from each other. "Arc, do you not know who this is?"

"Er, Pyrrha Nikos. She said so herself," Jaune pointed out.

"No, you dolt!" She exclaimed. "She's the-"

She could say no more, as a red and bronze spear suddenly sent her flying away. Jaune blinked as he saw his crush smash against the wall on the other side of the locker room. ' _What just happened?_ ' He wondered.

Turning to Pyrrha, he saw her standing completely straight, a wide and innocent smile on her face. "I do hope Weiss is alright, it'd be a shame to see her hurt." The way she said it only intensified the creepiness of her smile.

Weiss only groaned, hanging her head in shame and shock.

"Welp," Harry commented as he walked to the two, the rest of his group following behind. "She looks like she's having a bad day."

Hermione rolled her eyes and walked to Weiss, planning on helping her down. She found it to be futile, as her lack of strength made it impossible to pull the spear out of the wall. After a moment, Neville, Hannah and Susan went to help her.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Pyrrha assured. She shuffled uncomfortably on her feet when she recognized Harry to be one of two that caught her staring at Jaune, but nevertheless, she lightly glared at him, willing him to be silent. "Pyrrha Nikos," she introduced herself.

Harry, minorly caught off by the redhead's glare (that looks so much like his mother's), nodded at her. "Harry Potter. The two behind me are Daphne and Lisa. The four helping Weiss are Hermione, Neville, Hannah and Susan." He turned to Jaune. "Where are the other two? Ruby and Yang, that is?"

Even before Jaune could answer, the Gryffindor colored girl interjected with, "Who?"

Heavily resisting the urge to smirk, Harry shrugged. "Oh, they're two sisters that Jaune is close with. I'm pretty sure he's dating one of the," he trolled.

"No, no, no," he rattled off, glancing momentarily to where Weiss was still hanging. "I'm not dating any of them."

Behind him, Pyrrha had a serious eye twitch and was giving Harry the second scariest glare he had ever received (it was on par with his mother's but because he has seen it before Pyrrha's, it was second) with an empty smile. Though he did not know the word - Hermione and her otaku ways would - Pyrrha was easily pulling off a perfect Yandere smile. Next to him, Daphne and Lisa whimpered and shrunk back.

Harry smiled weakly. "Well, I need to go … do other stuff. Why don't you two go get Weiss off that wall." With that, he walked away, his friends following close behind.

Seeing the group (and the absolute troll) walk away, Pyrrha sighed before quickly replacing her frown with a wide smile. "Well, Jaune," she beamed. "I think I'd be a great idea if we get a quick lunch. It wouldn't do to go into Initiation on an empty stomach."

Once again, someone shouted before Jaune could answer.

"JAUNE!" Ruby yelled with a wave, entering with Yang close behind. "There you are!"

Pyrrha couldn't keep her glare off even if she tried. "It that Ruby and Yang?" She asked in a deceivingly nice tone.

Jaune nodded as he waved back. "Yup, that's them."

As the girls approached, Pyrrha quickly analyzed them. Not on their combat prowess but rather, their threat levels in accordance to her. She immediately zeroed in on the older girl, believing the younger one to not be a threat for even a second. ' _She is definitely a problem! Her physical appearance alone is enough of a threat. Not to mention how close enough she is to Jaune, if what Harry said is true._ '

"We've been looking all over for you, Vomit Boy!" Yang exclaimed slugging him on the shoulder.

' _Pet names!_ ' Pyrrha worried. ' _The book said that's stage 5!_ ' Referencing a book she read about relationships, Pyrrha gulped nervously. ' _I almost have no chance with him! Almost …_ '

With narrowed eyes, Pyrrha smiled at Yang. "Hello, I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

"Yang," the girl greeted, with a confused tilt of her head. To her knowledge, this was the first time she had even met the champion and she did not remember ever offending her.

"OOOO!" Ruby fangirled. "You're the Champion! It's so great to meet you!"

"'Champion'," Jaune asked. "Champion of what?"

As Ruby turned to inform her crush, she froze when she caught sight of Pyrrha. A wicked smile was on her face, a slight tilt to her head and a dangerous aura rolling off her. "N-nothing," she whimpered as she shrunk behind her sister.

Yang's eye narrowed and Pyrrha met her glare with her own. Before the two could engaged in a battle of wills - both for different reasons - a loud announcement was heard.

"Would all first year students please report to Beacon's cliff for Initiation. Again, all first year students report to Beacon's cliff immediately." Glynda's voice was heard from a speaker.

"Well," Jaune started. "Looks like its time."

' _Time to prove myself!_ ' Jaune thought. ' _All of Qrow's training will be put to the test now!_ '

' _Ahhh yeah!_ ' Ruby internally cheered. ' _Time to slay some Grimm! And get on Jaune's team!_ '

' _I wonder what Pyrrha's problem is,_ ' Yang wondered.

' _I_ NEED _to get on Jaune's team, no matter what and through any means!_ ' Pyrrha dramatically confided to herself.

"HELP! I'm still stuck here!" Weiss whined.

* * *

 _ **Time: 12:02**_

 _ **Location: Beacon's 'Launching' Cliffs**_

 _ **Event: Initiation: Start!**_

"Welcome, to the much awaited moment," Ozpin said loudly when the last person stepped onto the plate. "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda stepped forward and addressed the initiates. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of how teams are assigned. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

"What?" Ruby murmured, mostly to herself but slightly to the Jaune, who was on the pad next to her. "Oh man ..."

Ozpin spoke again. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. However, I ask all those from Earth to step off as your Initiation will be held shortly after Remnant's students are paired. We want to pair you up with each other so that when you return to Earth, you are better off."

Everyone from Earth blinked in surprise before following the man's directions.

Ozpin grinned momentarily. "With that said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"Whaaaaaat?!" Ruby's jaw dropped, staring at Jaune in shock and worry. Her entire world was crashing around her; her dreams of becoming an awesome Huntresses with an equally awesome team - that absolutely included Jaune and her sister - was dwindling to a near nothing.

A ginger girl said, "See? I told you!"

"After you've partnered up," Ozpin continued. "Make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die."

Jaune took a deep breathe and began mentally preparing himself. Today was the day. Where his fate would be decided. If he failed, today, he would be sent back home and forced back into a life of normality. Well, he could also die but he was certain that his skill would save him from that fate.

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and we will grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

He was met with silence and the man nodded satisfactory. "Good! Then, let us begin!"

Jaune breathed deeply and be preparing himself for- "Wait, Professor!" He yelled.

The man raised an eyebrow at the young man. "Yes?"

"What do you mean by 'landing'?"

The man chuckled before pointing off the cliff. The boy turned and his eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw his fellow students falling through the air. "We are launching you into the forest and it is up to you to create a landing strategy," he stated the obvious.

Jaune's mouth flapped open and close like a suffocating fish before stuttering, "W-wait! I have motion-"

In the next second, he was set flying off, screaming at the top of his lungs like a girl.

* * *

 _ **Time: 12:14**_

 _ **Location: Beacon's 'Launching' Cliffs**_

 _ **Event: Initiation: For Earth**_

"Hmm, it's a good thing that Miss Nikos has a developed a certain liking to Mr. Arc," Ozpin commented with a small smirk, staring at the small scene on his scroll where said two were walking through the forest.

Glynda rolled her eyes. "Yes, what good chances!" She exclaimed dramatically. "Not like you did it on purpose, you manipulative bastard," she added under her breath.

"Now, then," Ozpin said loudly, turning to the Earthlings. "Ready for your own start?"

Neville gulped loudly. "A-ar-are we going to be thrown off like that? Because, I don't think I'll survive!"

Ozpin just raised an eyebrow while Glynda used her Semblance to place the protesting Earth initiates on the platforms. "To my knowledge," he glanced briefly at Harry. "You have the ability to instantly transport yourself, correct? Also I was told that you have several spells that not only slow your descent but make a softer landing." He cleared his thought. "That being said, I am forbidding any of you from simply teleporting yourselves to the finish. You may only use it in emergency situations and for a landing strategy. Using it in any other situation will lead to your expulsion."

Glynda stepped forward, drawing the student's attention. "To add, we have also changed Earth's relic's location. Your relics are located in the northwest part of the forest. It is, specifically, in a small cabin and you must find a certain item within it."

Hermione raised a hand. "How will we know what is a relic and what is not?"

Glynda smirked slightly. "Oh, you will know."

Ozpin spoke up, much to the pseudo-witches' disappointment. "To be more specific, everything in the cabin are old and worn down while the relics are fairly better looking."

The Hogwarts transferees nodded in understanding and began taking their positions.

Harry and a nervous Neville readjusted their gloves, which they bought so that they could hold their weapons better. Hermione was murmuring several spells under her breathe, categorizing which would be best to help her land. Surprisingly, Daphne was shaking slightly, shooting pleading glances at her friends. To her relief and slight confusion, Harry caught her looks and mouthed 'Third year, Quidditch game.' It only took her a second to remember.

"Hmm ... launch!"

All at once, the Earth students were sent into the sky.

* * *

 _ **Time: 12:25**_

 _ **Location: Emerald Forest**_

 _ **Event: Initiation: Meet the Enemy**_

" _Arresto Momento_!" With a whooshing of air and the hum of magic, Harry slowed to a near stop, only a few meters off the ground. He had overcharged the spells as normally, the spell wouldn't be able to slow someone as much. While useful for some spells, it was generally better to avoid doing it with most spells as it usually led to the same results, just quicker and more magic consuming.

As he slowly approached the ground, Harry took in his landing sight. A pretty clear landing with bright green grass and a few bushes here and there. It was surrounded by emerald leafed trees with thick roots and thicker trunks.

' _Good, looks like no Grimm are around,_ ' he thought as he touched down.

"Hmm," Harry hummed to himself as a thought occurred to him. ' _I wonder who my partner and team mates are going to be. No one has said anything about how teams are formed. Usually, all people say is that they usually form names by using the team member's' initials and should resemble or reference a colour's name. But exactly how they form them in Initiation? Zero, zilch, nothing._ '

Sighing softly, Harry used the _Four-Points_ spell to find his destination. ' _Righty then! Let's do this._ '

As he walked towards the relic's cabin, Harry took in the forest. ' _Wow! Port was right! The Emerald Forest is really beautiful._ ' He paused his thoughts. ' _Though, I suppose it helps that I have never seen a forest this close!_ '

*Gggrrrwwwrrl*

Harry nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the growl. ' _Oh,_ ' he gulped and drew the Sword of Gryffindor. ' _So that's what a Beowolf looks like_.'

The Grimm howled at him and soon, four others appeared around Harry, effectively surrounding him and cutting off all chances of escape.

' _Oh, what was that quote? From that Dino movie? Oh yeah!'_

"Clever girl," Harry said to the Grimm. He, like the time he faced those robots back on the second day at Beacon, began turning in place, doing his best to keep an eye on all the Beowolves. "Port was right, I should never underestimate the Grimm."

The lead Beowolf roared in response.

"You better not be calling for more!" Harry yelled, against his better judgment, charged the Beowolf.

…

Opening with a Reducto - which threw the Grimm back but otherwise did nothing -, Harry quickly followed it with a horizontal slash. The Grimm did not even move out of the way, and its head went flying into the air. But at the same moment, another Beowolf smashed into his side.

' _Protect me Magic!_ '

Harry was thrown against a tree but he quickly rebounded off it and slashed twice at the lead Beowolf. Unlike his previous brethren, the Beowolf leaned back to avoid the slashes and back handed Harry away.

Rolling, Harry jumped back at another pair of Beowolf. He decided that it'd be best if he left the lead Beowulf for last, seeing it was the smartest and strongest. A _Diffindo_ and a slash ended both but a Grimm slammed into his back, knocking him to the ground. To his absolute horror, he found himself face to the ground with a deadly monster on top of him. Without wasting a second, the Beowolf began clawing his back, a relentless attack of pain that dug deep into his skin.

He tried bucking the Beowolf off but found it was to heavy for him and it easily maintained its position above him, one paw on his shoulder, and knees on his waist. Eyes darting around the forest and free arm waving uselessly, Harry felt his magic dwindle. It was a grim reminder to Harry, and easily showed how strong and sharp the Beowolf's claws were as this one Beowolf had drained his magic more and faster than Malfoy could after ten minutes of continuously hitting him.

' _I can die here! Not now! Not when I've gone this far!_ ' For the first time in his life, Harry feared for his life. Every time before, when he dived headfirst into danger, he had never thought of how easily he could lose his life. It usually wasn't until after, after he had come out victorious, then did he think of how dangerous it was. ' _Shit, dammit. Someone, anyone! Help!_ '

" _Diffindo_!" A voice shouted.

Harry could have cried right then and there as Neville came charging in, lance and wand in hand.

The Beowolf slumped on top of him. But with a roar of magic, he threw the corpse off of him and stood up, wincing when he felt his wounds slowly heal. One thing about magic he had forgotten, is that magic could not protect him from everything. Usually, it was more common for magic to heal a wound than to fully protect from injury. Wizard needed to train their magic to protect themselves.

Neville rushed to Harry's side, keeping an eye on the last Beowolf, which just watched. "You good? Can you stand?"

"I'm good," Harry told him, wincing slightly. "Thanks, mate. Saved my ass."

Neville gave a short, dry laugh. "Harry, I really thought you were dead back then."

"So did I, so did I." Harry turned to the lead Beowulf, which snarled and bared its fangs. "Do you mind taking care of that?"

Neville nodded and charged the Grimm, holding his lance in a two handed grip. "Face my blade; Galahad!"

Before the Beowolf could even bark in surprise, Neville's lance extended and pierced into its chest. He quickly shorted his lance and the wolf slumped to the ground motionlessly.

Harry raised an eyebrow as Neville returned to him, pulling his wand back out to begin healing him. "'Galahad'? 'Face my blade'?" Harry asked with a chuckle.

Neville grinned sheepishly. "Well, isn't it accustomed to name your weapons in Remnant? I thought it was a good name. Mom would read me about how the knight Galahad would go and retrieve the Holy Grail."

"Really?" Harry asked. "Auntie would read you _Le Morte d'Arthur_? Isn't that a bit complicated to read to a child."

"Well," Neville chuckled. "It was a pretty edited and shortened version."

Harry shook his head. "Thinking of becoming a Knight?" He asked with a raised brow.

"When I was a kid? Totally! Now, eh. Don't think I can," he admitted with a shrug.

Harry hummed and, after Neville was done, stood straight and looked him directly in the eye. "Looks like we're partners." He raised his hand with a grin.

Neville grinned back and clasped his hand with a loud _slap_. "Looks like it!"

"Come, Knight!" Harry joked with a flourishing wave, picking his sword up in the process. "Let us begin our quest for the Grail!"

"Aye, aye! Your majesty!" Neville said back, bowing back.

Two screams pierced the silent forest, breaking the two from their bantering.

"Was that …" Neville could have sworn that scream was familiar.

"HERMIONE! DAPHNE!" Harry roared, charging straight to where the screams originated.

* * *

 _ **Time: 12:47**_

 _ **Location: Emerald Forest**_

 _ **Event: Initiation: Save the Girl**_

Harry had never ran so fast. He had thought that he had ran fast when he was chasing after Pettigrew, his legs fueled by anger and adrenaline. But now, legs empowered by his magic, adrenaline and fear? He was a blur; ducking under branches, jumping over fallen trees and even scaling a small cliff in record time. Nothing would stop him. Any Grimm he met was quickly sliced apart and he didn't even break his stride, determined to save his friends.

"HERMIONE!" He yelled as he charged into another clearing. "DAPHNE!"

"HELP!"

Whipping to the voice, Harry was slightly relieved to not see his two friends. But his anger only returned ten fold when he saw Lisa and a freckled girl cowering, a Ursa Major and a Minor cornering them against a rather large tree.

"FUCKERS!" He roared and charged the two Grimm.

The two Grimm turned to him, finally recognizing him as a threat. Harry sprinted forwards with his sword raised him above his head. The boy was thirsty for blood, a hunger that he had never felt before. Never before had he ever wanted to kill something so badly. The only time he had felt something even close is when he learned that Hermione, Ron and his sisters petrified by the Basilisk. Back then, he had mindless attacked anyone and everything and it wasn't until he found the note in Hermione's hand did he direct it towards the culprit. But now, his fury was a consuming rage that wanted to see the Grimm torn apart at the seams. He wanted their dead bodies at his feet, sliced into meaningless pieces. So it was almost hilarious when the Major just backhanded him into a tree, stopping his charge short.

He gasped when he heard a loud crack, knowing very well that such a old and large tree would not break so easily. He flopped to the ground, his magic racing to heal his injuries. With a soft whimper, Harry felt the last of his magic heal his back.

' _Shit! How can I save them now? Without magic, I'm useless._ ' Groaning, Harry shakily stood up onto his feet. ''I … I-I can't save them," he said aloud. "Not without my magic."

He glared at the Ursas. The Major was slowly lumbering towards him, almost mockingly so. The Minor was heading towards the two fearful witches, growling hungrily. "Dammit, I can't give up now!"

Picking up a large rock, he hurled it at the Minor. The rock entirely missed by an entire meter but it served its purpose of drawing the Minor's attention.

"RUN!" Harry yelled to Lisa and the other girl. "Now! While you still can!"

Without even blinking, Lisa took the other girl's hand and raced out of the clearing. The Minor growled like it wanted to chase after but decided against it and glared at Harry.

"I don't suppose you'll allow me to just walk away?" Harry asked with a dry chuckle.

The two Grimm roared and the Minor charged at him on four legs.

"I'll take that as a now," he muttered sarcastically and rolled to avoid the attack.

' _Speed,_ ' he reminded himself. ' _Speed is on your side. Dad was right!_ '

He ducked under a swing from the Major and risked a slash. It didn't even pierce the hide and the Grimm followed with a backhand with its other paw. Harry barely managed to roll out of the way. But not even a moment later, the Minor was upon him, swinging its arms madly. He weaved in and out of the attacks, using his superior speed to dodge the blows.

Sadly for Harry, defence was not his forte. In fact, he was a near master of offence, able to kill even troll after some time, wit and - sadly - his excessive amount of magic. But he did not have his magic now. He was a running gazelle. Prey for the Grimm like a zebra to a lion.

He grunted and cried out when a paw smashed into his chest, a glancing blow but it still sent him flying towards the familiar, thick tree that Lisa was trapped against.

"No," he moaned weakly. "Fuck me."

Gasping for breath, Harry watched a the bears stomped towards him, obviously enjoying their victory. But if there was one thing about Harry Potter - a fact shared with all his family, in fact- is that he would never give up.

"Come on then," Harry groaned. "Let's finish this."

The Minor bellowed in agreement and the Major snorted, eyes never leaving his. It was scary, to see some form of intelligence in the supposedly soulless creatures. And for some reason, a horrifying fact that he wouldn't realize until later, he couldn't help but respect the monster a bit.

"DIE! _Confingo_!"

The Minor howled in pain as the flames burned its skin, waving its arms senselessly. It even managed to knock over the Major in one of its swings, despite the large differences in size and strength.

"Harry!" Lisa yelled. Following close behind was Neville, Hermione, Daphne and the other girl he had saved.

"Oh, man, you still alive?" Neville asked as he saw him up.

Harry just nodded, too surprised and tried to answer.

"I'm so sorry, Harry," Lisa whimpered. "I just abandoned you! Even when you save us!"

He turned to Lisa, nodding slowly. "You came back," he managed to mutter. "And that's all that matters. Thank you."

Daphne scowled. "She wouldn't have unless we stopper her!"

The girl bowed her head, tears streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry," she sobbed again. "I swear, I'll make it up to you. I'll repay you in any way."

Grunting, he nodded at the two Ursai. "Then do you mind killing those two?"

The Minor had managed to put the flames out and the Major had picked itself up. Both were now growling menacingly at the group, paws digging into the ground.

A dark look passed over Lisa's face. "With pleasure!" She growled back at the Grimm. "C'mon Sally. Let's take the big one."

"No," Daphne said and lightly smacked her head. "The two of you will distract the Major." Both girls moved to argue back. "Shut up! We'll take out that Minor and help deal with that Major."

Lisa hesitated for a moment but then nodded. "We'll do it," she promised.

* * *

 _ **Time: ?**_

 _ **Location: Emerald Forest**_

 _ **Event: Initiation: Unleash the Power**_

Things had gone wrong from the beginning. The the two Ursai had switched their planned roles and now it was the trio against the Major and the pair against the Minor. They had also underestimated the Grimm. Hermione, Daphne and Neville thought that they could distract the Major easily but it proved to be a difficult task even with their magic. Its armored parts, which covered most of its body, resisted magic and the thing was smart enough to not get into a disadvantaged position. Any time the three tried to set up a crossfire, the Grimm would charge them and they were forced to dive out of the way, thus breaking their crossfire.

Lisa Turpin and Sally-Anne Smith were not faring better. Two other girls, Tracey Davis and Leanna Murphy had joined the fray halfway into the fight with another Minor on their heels. But the two Ursai used a combination of charges and blindsided surprise attacks to keep the girls on their feet. It didn't help that only Lisa had some combat training outside of DADA.

And then there was Harry, who felt completely useless as he leaned against the tree. His magic was slowly returning to him but he could only rest and watch as his friends risked their limbs and lives to save him.

' _No! This isn't right,_ ' he thought to himself angrily. " _I should be the one doing the protecting! I'm supposed to take the hits! I'm an absolute failure!'_

 **-Oh? Is that so, Heir of Godric?-**

Blinking in surprise, Harry's head whipped around, looking for the source of the voice, which sounded as though a British man was trying to sound like he was royalty.

 **-Down here, Heir-**

Still blinking, Harry looked down at the Sword of Gryffindor, which was strangely glowing with an odd light. "Wat?"

 **-Ah! Sir Heir! Do you wish to save your friends?-**

Harry stared at the sword. "You better not be a demon or something, trying to trick me into freeing you," he deadpanned.

 **-Let's get serious Heir! Your friends are dying out there!** As if to prove the sword's point, Neville tried shielding against an attack but it smashed straight through the magical shield. The paw continued and slammed against the boy but he quickly got back up and rejoined the fight. **-I know for a fact that no true Heir of Godric would just stand by and allow his comrades die in front of him! Save them! Heir! Grasp the power within me! Wield it and slay these monsters!-**

"Er," Harry started as he gripped the sword. "How do I do that."

 **-... Honestly, I don't know-**

"What?! What do you mean?!"

"HARRY?" Hermione yelled worried only to yelp as she had to duck under a blow.

 **-Godric usually handled that part. He would yelled out the activation phrase and I fed him the power-**

"What is the 'activation phrase?" Harry shouted at the sword.

"Harry? You alright back there?" Neville asked.

 **-It doesn't matter. He usually just yelled whatever. It was used to tell me when I needed to start working!-**

"Then start working then!" Harry demanded.

 **-Say the activation phrase!** -

"What activati-"

 **-Just yell something! Hold me in front of yourself before you do, though-**

Growling in annoyance, Harry climbed to his feet and held the Sword of Gryffindor in a two handed grip. "Fine then. You want an activation phrase?" He asked the sword hypothetically. "I'll give you one! **Ignite!** "

With a bright flash, a blaze of fire and a rushing of wind, knowledge and power flowed into Harry like a river. The dam had broken, and the boy could only be washed away.

…

" _Hmm, a sentient sword?"_

' _Aye, your majesty. I am'_

" _So very interesting! I must admit, this is the very first time I have ever met a living sword. And a beautifully made one at that."_

' _I thank you, your majesty.'_

" _Tell me, sword, who has made you? I wish to seek them out so that he may create more of you!"_

' _I do not know, your majesty. I was not … awake when I was made.'_

" _Is that so? Then I apologize, then."_

' _There is no need, your majesty. It is an honour to serve under someone as great as you.'_

" _Very humble and grateful, you are?"_

' _I hope so. My previous owner told me to be so."_

" _A wise man, then. It is always best to respect others, even those you have not met."_

' _Thank you, your majesty. My previous master said that something about how it was best to be kind to all, as I hold the power that others can only dream of wielding. Something about responsibility, power and kindness.'_

" _Hmm. Do you have a name, sword?"_

' _I do, your majesty.'_

" _Do you care to tell me?"_

' _No, your majesty. But if it is important you, and if you so demand it; I will tell you.'_

" _Tell me, sword, your name. I wish to know it."_

…

" _My word! A speaking sword!"_

' _I am, Godric Gryffindor. My previous master has spoken very highly of you.'_

'' _Previous master'? Are you speaking of-"_

' _No, Sir Godric. Not Sir Merlin.'_

" _Not Merlin … but then, you must be talking about … My lord. You must be- no, it is an absolute honour to wield the blade of such a man!'_

' _Heh, Sir Godric. I once said something very similar to my old master. But,_ _you_ _are now my owner, Sir Godric.'_

" _I-i am? That is- I am honoured, sword!"_

' _Thank you, Sir Godric, for your kind praise.'_

" _Do tell, sword. What was your name?"_

' _... my name is-'_

…

" **Excalibur! Take Me Away!** "

Harry flew forwards, the winds carrying him towards the Ursa Major. The Grimm could only widen its eyes before Harry smashed into it, sending it flying away. The force of the blow created a shockwave when his sword slammed into the Grimm's chest, throwing dust and dirt high into the air.

The seven Beacon initiates and the two Ursa Minors blinked in shock, not knowing what happened.

"Harry?" Hermione called into the dust cloud. "Are you alright? What just happened?"

Harry did not reply. However, as the dust and dirt settled, the seven's eye widened when they saw what the cloud had hidden. Harry stood on the chest of the Major, its head missing entirely. He was holding the Sword of Gryffindor in two hands. But something was different about the Sword. Before, the blade had been slightly curved and covered in rubies. Even the hilt had been inlaied with the red jewels, making it hard to actually grip the weapon. But now; now it resembled a knightly sword; a straight blade and grip. Moreover the rubies disappeared from the grip and were placed on both ends of the crossguard. This form of the Sword had obviously been more intended for combat situations than its previous. The Killing Curse-eyed teen glared at the two Ursai, pointing his weapon threateningly at them. There was a certain promise in his eyes, a dangerous glint that spelled the Ursasi Minors' end.

Throwing themselves out of their stupor, the Grimm charged forwards, howling for Harry's blood.

In a display of explosive power that he definitely did not possess before, Harry launched himself at the Grimm, the air pushing him forwards and acting as a shield. Flying above the Ursai, Harry slashed downwards and behead the first Ursa in the blink of an eye. The second Ursa stopped itself and managed to pivot in place, turning to face directly where Harry landed. He was in a perfect three-point landing, using a single hand to hold his sword.

Harry scoffed at the last Grimm, which roared in defiance and charged once more. ' _Seems like seeing its brethren die has enraged it._ '

Almost lazily, Harry dodged the claws, never needing to move his empowered body much to weave away from the attacks. Then, faster than the others could see, he sliced the Ursa from groin to shoulder in a single blow; a far cry from his previous attacks - seeing as they had only managed to scratch the Ursa before.

With the Grimm dead and himself victorious, Harry sighed and willed the power from the sword drain away. "Go, Excalibur. Your work is done, for now."

With a dim flash, the sword of Gryffindor return-

Harry blinked and stared at the sword in his hands, which hand remained in its straight form.

 **-Ah, yes, Sir Harry. That is the combative form of myself. The other from was my ceremonial form, otherwise known as Clarent-**

"Clarent?" Harry asked, still looking at his sword.

 **-Each form of mine is named. And each form serves its own purpose, mainly for combat reasons. Like I said, Clarent is used for ceremonial purposes and is also used to for easier carry-**

"Next question: How did I do all that? I definitely wasn't that strong before."

 **-You can thank me for that-** If a sword could sound smug, Excalibur definitely did. **-As long as you hold me, I will empower you with my magic-**

"And the other forms," Harry asked. "How do I access them?"

 **-You will need to go back into my memories and figure it out. And I not trying to be rude. I really can't tell you due to some magic barriers set up by Ki-**

"Harry?" Hermione asked, breaking Harry from his thoughts and - unknowingly - interrupting Excalibur. "Are you alright?"

Harry blinked. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

Daphne snorted. "Harry, you're talking to your sword. You look absolutely insane."

"Oh," Harry started. "Er, sorry. I was speaking to Excalibur."

"Excalibur?" Hermione asked.

"My sword," he gestured towards it with his free hand. "Can't you hear him?"

"Nope," Daphne said, popping the 'p'.

 **-Sorry about that Sir Harry. My magic only allows my master to hear me-**

"Don't worry about it," Harry assured his sword, not noticing the worried looks of his friends. "And don't call me Sir or any of that crap. Harry is fine."

 **-Hmm, Harry then-**

"Harry," Hermione said again, drawing Harry's attention. "I don't mean to be rude, but can you not talk to your sword so casually? It looks really weird."

Harry smiled sheepishly. "Oh, okay then." ' _Can you hear me, Excalibur?_ '

 **-What? Did you say something, Harry? All I hear was my name-**

Harry frowned. "Then that won't work, not without some practice." He turned to his friends. "Sorry about that. It's the only way for me to communicate with him."

"It has a gender?" Lisa asked, curious.

 **-Not really, but I have always been addressed as one-**

As Harry relayed the message, Hermione turned to Daphne and Neville. "We should get to the cabin," she reminded them seriously. "We still have an Initiation to finish."

"Right," Neville nodded and turned to the others. "C'mon everyone! Let's go! We still need that relic!"

As everyone headed for the cabin, Harry looked back at Excalibur. "Hey, Excalibur. Before, when we we're talking before Hermione interrupted us, you were going to mention your old, old master's name."

 **-Aye, I was-**

"Can you still tell me?"

Excalibur chuckled. **-Haven't figured it out?-**

"Huh? Uh, no, I haven't."

 **-King Arthur, Harry. He was known as King Arthur-**

"... Oh, wow. Fuck."

* * *

 _ **Time: 13:11**_

 _ **Location: Emerald Forest**_

 _ **Event: Initiation: Retrieve the Relics**_

"Wow. I'm really tired," Harry panted, deactivating Excalibur's powers.

Hermione frowned. "We can take care of some of the Grimm." She gestured at the corpses of the Beowolves and Ursai. "We're not useless."

Harry shook his head. "I'm not saying you are. It's just that all of you can easily can get killed. Excalibur gives me enough strength to kill Grimm fairly easy and quick."

"But you're using 'Excalibur' to eliminate small groups of Beowolves," Daphne pointed out. "We can handle those easily."

"That doesn't take much energy," Harry defended himself.

"But after twenty groups in a row? That adds up," Sally said.

Harry waved a hand. "I'm just being a whiny prick. Don't worry about-"

"No," Lisa interrupted with crossed arms. "You're practically killing yourself at this point. We can handle ourselves!"

Nine Beowolves burst out of the bushes in front of them. To the Grimm's surprise, the girls smirked upon seeing them, an eager glint in their eyes.

"C'mon girls," Hermione waved towards the Grimm.

As the six girls stomped to the confused monsters, Neville turned to Harry. "Should I go too or …?"

Harry shook his head as the girls began battling. "Nah, they can handle themselves." He winced when he almost tripped over a root, holding his aching sides.

Neville frowned. "You alright? Need to heal you more?"

Harry stubbornly shook his head. "Save your strength. You'll need it."

"I don't think so," Neville argued. "If anything, it'd be better if you were in better condition."

Harry straightened. "Don't worry about it, Neville. Sure, Excalibur is awesome and all, but you-"

*BANG*

Harry and Neville jumped and whipped to where the girls charged to, which is also where the sound came from. They both blinked in surprise when they saw Hermione standing almost cockily, holding a vaguely L-shaped object in hand.

"Wait," Harry said, recognizing the object. "It that-?"

"My weapon," Hermione interrupted, grinning. "Lightspeed! Shifting Bullet, Forceful Revolver!"

She pointed at the next Grimm and pulled the trigger. Unlike the last bullet, which appeared to be a normal round, this one exploded when it came into contact with the Beowolf's chest. The next two charged as soon as she fired, howling for revenge and blood. She dodged the first attack then _Deprimo_ 'd the other Grimm. The first Beowolf lunged at her again but she _Protego_ 'd and it bounced off. She _Diffindo_ the downed Grimm and - in an amazing display that she had never pulled off before - ducked under the second lunging without even looking at it.

Neville's jaws dropped and Harry whistled when she whipped around, walked to the stunned Beowolf and shot it with her pistol, this time with a bullet that went through the Beowolf's skull armor. "That was badass."

Lisa and Sally had decided to take on two together. The two were relentless. The two were spinning around each other, back to back. Lisa launched a _Reducto_ , spun behind Sally, who launched a _Diffindo_. When the remaining Beowolf tried to swipe at them, Sally spun and Lisa shielded the both of them. As it reeled back, Lisa spun and _Confingo_ the downed Beowolf.

Daphne took a very different approach. She whipped out her two weapon, Kitty the Dual Length Hand Claws and Cress the Momentum Shifting Sickle-Dagger. The girl had been practicing with the two weapon since Harry had bought them for her. Before, she had little to no dueling training so Harry had taken it upon himself to train her. But the main thing they focused on was dodging attacks and the training was paying off. The girl weaved in between the Beowolf's slashes and ducked into its guard. Any time it overextended, she would rush in and unleashed deadly combos that threw it back.

"This Kitty has claws!" Daphne winked back at Harry and stabbed her dagger in its neck, killing it.

Tracey and Leanna, who obviously had the less dueling training, had need help from Hermione to finish their Beowolves but they managed to hold them off until them.

"That was cool," Harry commented as they walked back, congratulating one another.

Daphne snorted. "Told you we can take care of ourselves."

Harry just frowned and continued walking, drawing worried looks from all.

* * *

 _ **Time: 15:46**_

 _ **Location: Beacon**_

 _ **Event: Initiation: Form the Teams**_

Harry watched wide eyed as the screen showed Ruby executing a large, elite Nevermore and flawlessly land on the cliff. Apparently, Beacon recorded everything during Initiation and the staff was showcasing the best moments in order of best to the most awesome. His own was just before Ruby's, which showcased her ragtag team of eight totally decimating two elite Grimm, so there was that.

 **-Welp, partner. Looks like your badass moment got out shined by shorty-**

' _Tell me about it._ '

 **-Still can't hear ya well, Harry. Try harder, maybe-**

Daphne smiled slightly and nudged Harry. "Well, Ruby made your own moment look like a toddler with a plastic sword."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Wow, thanks. True, but still."

Daphne grinned and Hermione tapped her lightly on her head. "Don't mind her, Harry. You did look pretty badass back then." Her own grin appeared. "Definitely your most _shining_ moment."

The group stared at her with blank faces. "Was that a pun?" Lisa asked emotionlessly.

Hermione huffed. "It's good," she insisted.

"Meh," Yang said as she arrived with Ruby, Jaune, Weiss, Blake, Pyrrha and two other the group did not recognize. "I could do better." She threw a thumbs up at Harry. "Nice one, scar face. Don't exactly know what that exactly was but still pretty awesome."

Daphne rolled her eyes. "We were there, Harry explained it to us and we still don't get it."

"Well, obviously," cheered the ginger girl. "Harry got some sort of awesome power up!"

Before the others could say more, Ozpin stepped up to the microphone.

…

"And finally, Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Blake Belladonna. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose!"

Harry breathed deeply and tapped his finger against the gold and scarlet feather in his pocket, which was apparently one of Earth's transferees relic. He found it slightly amusing that the grand relic they were suppose to obtain could be found in his own wand. Not that he would break it to get it; absolutely not and never.

"Now, we will form teams for the Earth transfers."

Four student with their faces and names appeared on the screen. "Hannah Abbott, Alexa Runcorn, Lavender Brown and Susan Bones. The four of you have retrieved the jar containing the heartstrings of a dragon." Ozpin was interrupted by 'Yucks' from a few Remnant girls. "From this day forward, you will form team ARLS, led by Hannah Abbott."

The students from Remnant clapped loudly; but those from Earth could only stared wide eyed at the Headmaster. He just smirked and sipped from his mug.

"Next, we have Lisa Turpin, Sally-Anne Perks, Leanne Murphy and Tracey Davis. The four of you have retrieved the jar containing the tufts of dog's hair. From this day forwards, you will form team LSLT, led by Lisa Turpin."

Again, more claps from Remnant and more shock from Earth. ' _What? Is he serious? Where did he get those names from? He's knows_ _way_ _more than he let on!_ ' Harry thought with narrowed eyes and a frown.

"Sally Smith, Megan Jones, Mandy Brocklehurst and Sophie Roper. The four of you have retrieved the red coin. From this day forward, you will form team SJMR, led by Sally Smith."

' _Did Dumbledore or someone else give him a book?_ ' He glanced down at the silent Excalibur. ' _No, there is no_ _way_ _that this is a coincidence._ '

"Draco Malfoy, Anthony Goldstein, Gregory Goyle, and Terry Boot. The four of you have retrieved the jar containing unicorn hair." Someone snorted form the audience the four boys glared into the mass. "From this day forwards, you will form team team DAGT, led by Draco Malfoy."

"Wait," Hermione murmured from next to him. "Wait, wait, wait, wait."

"What is it?" Daphne whispered back.

"I think I know our team name," she replied.

Before Daphne could ask, Ozpin spoke.

"And finally, Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, Daphne Greengrass and Hermione Granger. The four of you have retrieved the phoenix feather. From this day forward, the four of you will work together and from," he paused, whether he needed to breathe or to add dramatic effect, no one could answer.

' _Wait,_ ' Harry thought, coming to the same conclusion as Hermione. ' _That bastard_.'

"Team P - N - D - G," he smiled at the four, where Harry and Hermione's jaws were dropped. "Other wise known as Team Pendragon. And they will be lead by Harry Potter."

* * *

Aurelius, formed by ARLS. In Arthurian literature, is an alternate name of the legendary wizard, Merlin. For Earth, he is known as the most powerful wizard in history.

Lancelot, formed by LSLT. In Arthurian literature, is a Knight of Round Table. Best known for his unwavering loyalty and combat prowess.

Sagramore, formed by SJMR. In Arthurian literature, is another Knight. He is best known for his incredible rage and savagery. Nevertheless, he was also very loyal and righteous.

Dagonet, formed by DAGT. In Arthurian literature, was both a Knight and jester. He was mostly known for his cowardly ways but did managed to hunt and kill Helior of the Thorn.

Pendragon, formed by PNDG. In Arthurian literature, was the father of King Arthur, the previous king of Britain before Arthur and full named Uther Pendragon. In some literature pieces, King Arthur is given the name of Pendragon.

* * *

 **-Congratulation, Harry. Do live up to your legacy-**

Harry frowned and stopped folding his clothes. He was in his room, placing clothes in his drawer. The room had been split up into a boys and girls side; and the four would buy a curtain to help separate the room a bit. The four beds were separated into pairs by the window and though there was little space between them, they could live with it. There was a dresser pushed up against the wall farthest from the entrance door, right under the window. Two closets were one the 'left' and 'right' sides of the room, one girls and one boys. Four desks mirrored the beds. Already, they were covered in personal items such as their scrolls, headbands and wallets.

"Legacy? What do you mean by that?"

Excalibur chuckled. **-Not so fast on uptake, are ya? You are my current master. You received me by the Sorting Hat. Well, my last master was Sir Godric Gryffindor. He received me from King Arthur. Who do you think gave me to Arthur?-**

Harry's eyes widened and, at the same time as Excalibur, said, "U **t** h **e** r **P** e **n** d **r** a **g** o **n**!"


	6. Chapter 4-5

**Chapter 4.5: Discontinuation First: First Morning, Dust and Some Info**

* * *

 _ **Time: 6:36**_

 _ **Location: Team PNDG's Room**_

 _ **Event: Wake Up and Short Conflict**_

"Harry, time to wake up."

Harry blearily opened his eyes and subconsciously glared at Neville.

Neville just shrugged. "It's six thirty. Breakfast ends at nine-fifty, which we then need to get to class. Dust 101 is first, followed by Grimm Studies." Neville reminded the still sleepy Harry.

The emerald eyed boy just grunted and sat up in bed.

Daphne entered the room, a bundle of night clothes under one arm and a bag of toiletries in the other. She was wearing the Beacon uniform, though Harry saw the had modified it in that she was also wearing shorts with a long pocket on the side for her wand.

"Morning, Sunshine," Daphne teased with a grin.

"Hmm," Harry hummed then gestured towards her pants. "Where did you get Standard Wizarding Combat leggings?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I packed them with me," she said in an amused tone. "Why? Do they look good on me? Appreciate how they define my legs?"

Harry didn't even bother to answer, climbing out of bed and grabbing his own change of clothes and toiletries.

"Daphne," Hermione deadpanned from behind her. "Just stop. And move, please."

"Fine," she relented and moved out of the way of the door, though the look on her face promised that this would not be the last time.

Harry and Neville left the room, the former carrying his clothes and bag of toiletries and the latter going to breakfast.

Hermione turned and huffed a Daphne. "I need to know."

The Pureblood girl raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Are you just teasing him? Or do you actually have feelings?" Hermione asked, sitting on her bed.

A conflicted look appeared on her face before she shrugged, though a bit halfhearted. "I … think I do, at times. Other times, I don't want to end our friendship." She tilted her head when Hermione frowned, a look of understanding recognition in her eyes. "Do you … do you have the same problem?"

Hermione sighed. "I do," she admitted. "But mine situation is a bit more complicated."

"How so," Daphne asked, leaning back onto her bed.

"I'm juggling my feelings. For both Ron and Harry."

Daphne raised an eyebrow. "Weasley? Both of you argue all the time."

Hermione roller her eyes. "Not all the time. In fact, both of us are really close. All three of us are."

Daphne wrinkled her nose. "Do you have conflicting loyalties or something? Didn't he have problems with Harry in fourth year?"

"He did," Hermione acknowledged. "But he made damn sure that he made up for it. Some of the things he's done ... Sometime, I think he belongs more in Hufflepuff than Gryffindor."

Daphne chuckled. "Hmm. But, truthfully, how do you deal with your feelings?"

Hermione sighed again. "I … really don't. Most of the time, I just do my best to ignore them. I mean, Ron and Luna are still happily together. And sometimes, I think Harry is aromatic. I really can't tell. So, if I confess, I think that it'd ruin our friendship. And, of course, I worry that I'll choose wrong."

Daphne stayed silent, soaking in what she said and not knowing what to say.

"Well, you have four years with Harry alone," Daphne pointed out. "Maybe, your feelings will become more clear then."

"And you?" Hermione said back. "Your feelings?"

Daphne shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe it's just a fling, a crush. I certainly don't."

Hermione pursed her lips and sighed, laying back onto her bed like Daphne.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Well," Daphne said, breaking the silence. "Polygamy is totally a thing back at home."

"No," Hermione deadpanned. "That never, ever ends well. For anybody it in."

"Hmm," Daphne hummed. "True." She stayed silent for a moment. "I wasn't serious, Hermione. Just saying."

"I know you weren't. I know."

* * *

 _ **Time: 10:04**_

 _ **Location: Beacon's Dust Lecture Hall**_

 _ **Event: Dust Days**_

"Welcome to Dust One-oh-One," Glynda greeted.

Harry grinned, somewhat excited from the lesson. Besides him, Neville frowned and wrested his thumbs together. Team PNDG sat in the very last row. JNPR sat on the other row right next to them and RWBY in front of them. Luckily, the other teams were sitting closer to the front, allowing them some privacy and sort of out casting them. Moreover, the only other Earth team was team DAGT, who sat in the very front. But in terms of the lesson, Harry knew pretty much nothing about Dust (besides the four basic) so he hoped to learn some things and what he bought back then.

"Today, I want everyone to form groups of three and create some Dust ammunition. This will not only provide your team with some ammunition but will also allow you to branch out to other teams. You will be studying with your classmates for four years. Trust me when I say it's best to be friendly with other teams." She gestured to one wall, where dummy Grimm were lined up. "These are training dummies. Use them to test out your rounds."

As people groaned, Harry thought, ' _Well, there went learning about Dust._ '

"Sooo," Harry drawled out. "Can you tell us Earthlings about Dust, Weiss?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Why me?"

"Because your family owns the Schnee Dust Company," Harry pointed out.

Weiss scoffed. "I can't just tell you about Dust! There are so many uses and kinds about them! The types alone can take an entire lesson!"

"Dust types?" Neville asked Weiss.

Weiss blanched before face-palming. "That's … such a heavy loaded question," she informed. "There are numerous and endless amounts of Dust. And more are being discovered all the time."

Harry nodded. "Ozpin said something like that," Harry replied. "But, can you tell us some of what you know?"

For Daphne's, Neville's and his own sake. And apparently Jaune's by the way he looked intrigued. Or maybe he was just interested with Weiss.

Just then, Glynda yelled, "Mr Boot don-" A loud crash was heard. "Ugh! You are lucky, Mr Boot, that the vial you were holding is Dust dye. Had an actual vial of Dust had been dropped, you'd probably missing a foot. Or worse." With that, she stomped to the team.

Weiss sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose. "I … am the heiress of one of the most highest selling, Dust manufactures. I know most, if not all types of Dust in the world."

"Well," Harry began. "It looks like Professor Goodwitch isn't going to tell us anything any time soon."

Weiss sighed again. "Well, alright."

"Great!" Jaune exclaimed.

"You better get comfortable." Weiss warned. "There are a lot! First off, some basic facts! All kinds of Dust have two forms they can be found in. Crystal and powder. Powder is more volatile - less stable - but is more powerful than crystal. Each Dust has a color that has a specific effect and type. There are four basic Dust types: red for fire; green for wind; dark blue - water and brown - earth. These four basic types are usually the main components for creating other types of Dust - though the other types can be found naturally. Well, besides master types." She added the last part in a murmur. "These other types are organized into categories called, in order, simple, complex, advanced and … er, master." She looked hesitant to say the last though the others didn't know why. Meanwhile, Hermione and Ruby, who had been listening in, frowned at the last one.

Weiss sighed once more. "You may want to write these next one down. The first simple Dust types is light blue for ice, made from water and wind. White is a bit odd in that it is the only complex type that is made from three Dust types, fire, wind and lightning - I will explain how to make that in a bit. Oh, and it is energy Dust. Black is for force. Made by combining energy and wind. Charcoal is gravity, made of energy and earth. Lightning is signified by yellow Dust crystal and made of fire and wind. Lastly, pink is, er, explosive." Nora cheered from her seat. "And is created by fire and energy."

Weiss continued. "Those are the six complex types. As I said, more Dust types are being discovered and the list of complex types could very well expand over time." She took a deep breathe. "Next are advanced. Gray is the combination of fire and water to form steam. Orange is lava and made of fire and earth."

"Quick question," Neville interjected.

"What?" Weiss did not appreciate being interrupted.

Neville winced. "S-sorry! But, uh, why is gray and orange complex when it is made of two basics?"

Jaune nodded. "I was wondering that too."

Weiss pursed her lips. "Well, what makes the Dust doesn't lead to categorizing it. What classifies it is how much of it is naturally found and how much other Dust is needed to create it."

"That … makes a bit more senses but not entirely," Harry replied. "Like, is lava less common than lightning? Like isn't their a bunch of volcanoes around the world and isn't the core of Remnant, like entirely magma?"

Weiss shook her head. "No, just because its property is something specific doesn't mean it is found in the same place. Granted, yes, lava Dust can be found near volcanoes, this is not entirely so. Actually, most Dust types of all types can be found in Remnant's crust. Hence, why we mine for Dust instead of going on expeditions to volcanoes and such."

"Now, that, makes more sense," Daphne nodded.

"Any more questions? May I continue?" Weiss asked.

Harry exchanged looks with the others. "No, you're good."

"Good … steam - lava - the next Dust type in complex is amber for sun. Also called Sol. Created by lava and fire."

"What does that do?" Jaune asked.

Weiss gritted her teeth. "In-ter-rupted!" She sighed. "Sun Dust is used for short, minor bursts of heat but mainly is used for bright flashes of light. Useful for the crafty."

She coughed into her hand and looked at the assembled group, obviously wondering her previous question. When everyone shook their head, she continued. "Chartreuse is the Dust of acid. Otherwise known as erosion. It is made of wind, energy and ice. The next is turquoise and has the unique power of controlling cold temperature. Made of ice, wind and steam. The other, known temperature control Dust, heat Dust, is vermilion colored. It is made of steam, fire and lava."

She shuffled in her seat. "There is one, confirmed and known complex Dust but, admittedly, I do not remember it."

Everyone just shrugged, knowing that himself would never be able to remember everything too.

"Next we have advanced Dust types. The first is juniper Dust-"

"Miss Schnee!"

"Yes, Professor!" Weiss exclaimed, standing straight.

"Can you please help me?" Glynda asked. "It seems Mister Boot has poured Dust dye on his Dust vials. Can you please help him organize them?"

Weiss sighed and genuinely looked disappointed. "Yes, Professor."

As she got up, her eyes widened and she reached into one of her pockets. "Oh, wait." She pulled out a small piece of paper. "These are the master types. I'll explain the advanced types another time. These are the only master types known by the Schnee company. There are rumored to be others but I, personally, have not been told of them." She went to hand it to Harry before drawing back, a hesitant look on her face. "Please do not show this to anybody else." She glared at the group. "I am putting my trust into you. Do not-"

"Miss Schnee!"

Weiss flinched. "Coming!" She shoved the paper into Harry's hands and raced to Terry Boot and Professor Goodwitch.

Harry blinked before unfolding the paper and spreading it out so the other could see it. As the others crowded around , they each read the paper to themselves, understanding the what was written on the paper was not to be spoken aloud.

' _Sand Dust - Time._ ' Harry thought/read. ' _Created by yellow and - wait, rainbow? … Okay._ ' A judging by the looks on the other's face, they hadn't heard of rainbow Dust either. ' _Emerald Dust, plasma. Created by green and rainbow. Clear is aether, white and rainbow. Pitch "Space" Black? As in, light absorbing black? Whatever, I'll ask later. Nether/Darkness. Ugh, more questions. Created by rainbow and black Dust. Ebony Dust, void … rainbow and charcoal. And finally, rainbow Dust. Weird, no listed effect. Created by combining … what? What is it created by?_ ' Indeed, what made rainbow Dust was not listed. ' _Is it not known. Then again, Weiss said that Dust can be found naturally so maybe they haven't discovered how to make it._ '

"Well then," Daphne said as she leaned back. "Master types … they sound interesting. And very, very powerful."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, they do." She frowned. "Well, we apparently can't tell anyone about this." She glared at everyone crowded around, reminding them of what Weiss said.

"But it is odd," Ruby commented as she scratched her head. "I don't remember anyone ever mentioning master type Dusts."

Pyrrha nodded. "Neither have I."

Yan shrugged. "Well, are you that surprised." At the questioning looks, she continued. "Well, a big corporate company is bound to have some secrets, right? Like we said, these Dust types are really, really powerful! Wouldn't do for it to get into the wrong hands."

"Yeah," Harry said. "Like the White Fang. Can you imagine how dangerous they would become if they got their hands on these types?"

No one saw Blake flinch.

"But man," Jaune said as he tapped his chin. "I never knew how much Dust types there were! And how awesome they can be."

"Of course!" Weiss said as she walked back. "You can't really expect the my family would gain such profit from selling just four kinds of Dust!"

"Teams RWBY, JNPR and PNDG!" Goodwitch yelled and everyone flinched. "Did you not hear what I said at the beginning? Form groups of three and create some basic ammunition!"

A mad scramble was made to make groups. It ended up with Neville, Jaune and Harry in one groups. The other was Weiss, Ruby and Pyrrha; the next Daphne, Blake and Hermione, and Yang, Nora and Ren in the last.

"Welp," Harry gulped. "The three least knowledgeable people on Dust and they are in one group."

Jaune smiled, unsure. "I'm sure … that we'll be fine."

Neville just let out a combination of a sigh and a whimper.

Harry frowned and looked down at their workstation. There were a variety of colored Dust, from red to purple.

"... well, why don't we start experimenting?" Jaune suggested.

"Didn't Weiss say that Dust is extremely violate? As in, has a tendency to ex-explode?" Neville said nervously.

"That was only powder Dust."

"... Jaune. All of these are powder."

"Oh … crap."

They stayed silent for a moment.

"Well," Harry began, breaking the awkward moment. "Me and Jaune have large reserves of magic and Aura. And Neville seems to be able to survive anything thrown at him. So if we explode, we should survive, right?"

Neville looked like he wanted to complain but Jaune spoke first. "Well, yeah! That sound good!"

Neville just frowned and resisted the urge to face-palm."

…

"Mister Arc!" Glynda shouted as she stomped up the stairs.

Jaune froze, one hand holding a sniper casing and the other with a vial of black Dust. Next to him, Neville also froze, holding vials of red and green Dust. They were making their own type of bullet. They may not necessary invented it but they had just created it only recently. Now, they were creating Ruby's bullets, having already done so for Pyrrha.

"What are you doing?" Glynda asked, tapping her whip on her palm. "Did I not ask for 'simple' bullets?"

Jaune gulped. "Yo-you did!" He shouted, fearing for his life. "But! We- sorry! We got really distracted and into this!"

Glynda frowned and levitated one of Ruby's bullets. "I see that," she hummed disapprovingly. "But tell me, Mister Arc and Longbottom. What exactly does this bullet do?"

"... It's a piercing round," Jaune finally said, seeing as Neville was too busy being frightened to answer. "Specifically made to pierce through Grimm armor!"

Glynda sighed and massaged her nose. "That's impossible, Mister Arc. No such bullet existed that does that. Besides very high caliber, anti material rounds. And even then, it cannot not go through most Grimm armors, mainly used for Ursas and Beowolves." She frowned and raised the bullet to eye-level. "And I don't believe that it is good enough to be a H-CAM round."

"But we think it will!" Jaune rebutted. "We specifically made it-"

"Mister Arc!" Glynda interrupted. "There is no such thing. I refuse to believe that you've somehow managed to make something that not even thousands of scientist and Dust experts have never made! I mean not to insult your intelligence, but one, Mister Longbottom is an Earthling and this is probably one of the first time he's ever held Dust before. And two, Qrow has said that you've never used Dust before nor have shown any knowledge about it before."

"Please, Professor!" Jaune begged. "I we just can test in on a Grimm, we'll show you." He grabbed one bullet, the one for Pyrrha. "It has a hardened steel tip and the propellent is made of a high amount of black Dust and a medium amount of pink. There is also a Dust coating of-"

"Dust coating?" Glynda injected once more. She held the Dust bullet further away from her face.

Jaune nodded, looking very eager. "Yes! We coated the outside of the actual bullet so that it can most faster through the air faster. You know, for more force."

Glynda blanched, apparently the first time she's ever heard of this. "That is very volatile, Mister Arc."

"It is," Jaune admitted. "But we only have a small amount and even then, Neville has already drawn schematics for specific mags to hold them in." At Glynda's curious look, Neville blushed and held up a notebook with blueprints for a thick, mechanical and odd-looking magazine. "They only hold a low amount of bullets but they make up for it! We are using green Dust and a very low amount of red to coat it. We do plan for it to ignite in the air to decrease wind resistance. Both of us don't actually know if fire decreases wind resistance but-"

"Fire Dust," Glynda started. "Cannot not be extinguished by using air as it is partially fueled by it. It is a near instant reaction so, yes, using fire Dust to burn consume air before they reach and slow the bullet. So, yes, it can work … I am still very doubtful."

Jaune nodded eagerly once more. "Yeah, like a flame shield of sorts! Moreover, it also works a bit like a tracer bullet, which I know Harry is working on!"

Glynda paused and looked at Harry. "Mister Potter, are you not working with Misters Arc and Longbottom?"

Harry shrugged. "I was, but when we got to the fire coating and tracer part, it got me thinking. I wanted to create something similar but that would explode when it was inside Grimm, not when it impacted."

Glynda raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Harry nodded. "Pretty much the same thing as Neville's and Jaune round but the bullet is a bit hollow and is filled entirely with red and pink Dust. About half-and-half. So that way, it explodes when it enters the target. Crushing against something hard inside it, like internal bone and that way, even if does not pierce through, it's still damaging. I had to decrease the amount of pink Dust in the propellant so that it doesn't pierce entirely but still have enough so that it pierces the hide at least. Also, I decreased the amount of green Dust and added some amber. So it acts as more of a flare-slash-tracer." He cleared his throat. "And thus, I present the LI-HEIDT; the low incendiary, high explosive, internal detonating tracer."

Glynda frowned. "That … actually may work, Mister Potter. We have dummies if you wish to test it." She was lying but there was no harm in letting them try.

As he nodded, she turned to the previous pair and ask, "Did you perhaps name yours?"

Jaune nodded. "Neville and Jaune's New Age Piercing Round!"

Glynda sighed. "... I see. NAP round," she said unimpressed. "You also may test it, though I still do not believe that it will pierce through Grimm armor. Feel free to try."

With that, she walked down the stairs and to a girl with her hand raised. When the three turned to their teams, they saw all of them had dropped jaws.

"What was that?" Hermione asked.

"When did you three suddenly become Dust masters?" Daphne asked.

Weiss managed to recover and shook her head. "Hardly," she murmured to her group.

"Nevertheless," Pyrrha said, impressed by and happy for Jaune. "I do wish to try it. That is meant for me, correct?" She recognize the size of the bullet for her Milo.

Jaune nodded with a grin. "Yup, especially made for you." Ruby frowned, which did not go unnoticed by him. "Oh, we also made one for you, Ruby … one of which was stolen by the Professor."

Yang snorted. "Don't worry about it, Vomit Boy. She won't go stealing your idea. Probably."

Jaune and Neville could only grimace while Pyrrha stood and walked to the pair. "May I try it?" she asked, extending a hand.

"Er, I sure," Jaune passed a single round, not trusting to put a violation bullet in a magazine. "Again, this is entirely an experiment. We don't know if it will work. Heck, it could just explode in your rifle."

Pyrrha smiled at him. "I'm sure it will be fine. I trust and believe in you, Jaune."

Ruby frowned again. "I wanna try it too!"

…

The three teams gathered around Ruby and Pyrrha, both of which loaded the bullet in their gun's chamber. "Let's do this!" Ruby cheered.

"Oh, man," Neville breathed nervously. "All our work, comes to the test now."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "You haven't worked on this all your life! I has been less than a hour!"

Neville did not answer back, both wary and nervous to do so.

"Shall I go first or …" Pyrrha asked.

"Oo! I wanna go!" Without another second later, Ruby lined up the shot and fired.

The sound of ripping leather and metal resounded the entire room, silencing everyone. Near the back, Glynda stood straighter and peered closer, not believing her eyes.

"""..."""

Their was a very noticeable hole in the dummy, sand pouring out of the 'wound' profusely. But that was not what stopped everyone. No, what was shocking was that it the bullet when _through_ the reinforced wall, leaving a large hole in it. If one were to peer through it, they would see the outside world.

Yang whistled. "Well, Vomit Boy. Looks like your bullet worked."

Jaune just nodded, looking all to surprised.

Hermione recovered fairly quickly, though she pursed her lips. "Harry?"

"Yeah?" He replied.

"Do you have a bullet completed? One of your owns, for my gun?"

"Y-yeah, I'll go get it."

As he raced to get a bullet (Goodwitch not even reprimanding him for running when there was dangerous Dust nearby), Hermione exited to get Lightspeed from her locker.

"Do you think it will work?" Yang asked.

"I think so," Jaune replied. "It works pretty similar to ours. So it should."

Before more conversation could go own, Pyrrha shook her head, drawing everyone's attention. "I'm going to try mine now," she said quietly.

She raised Milo and only took a second to aim. Then, she pulled the trigger.

"... not as good, but still - damn," Yang commented.

Unlike Ruby's round, the NAP round only went a few inches into the wall. But still completely went through the dummy and pierced the wall so Jaune and Neville's bullet worked.

"That was awesome," Harry said as he stopped next to the group. "Good job, guys."

"What did I miss?" Hermione asked as she reentered, seeing everyone still staring at the dummies and wall. "Oh." She caught sight of Pyrrha's round. "Well, works for lower caliber bullets then."

"Hmm," Harry hummed then turned to Hermione. "My turn. Or, your turn, then."

Hermione nodded and accepted the HI-HEIDT, loading it into Lightspeed. The group parted as she approached the dummies. She took careful aim with her pistol, not wanting to miss.

There was a loud _crack_ , quickly followed by a _boom_. Sand and leather flew into the air, raining down on the three teams.

"Another success! Though, a bit too much red Dust." Harry grinned, brushing a burning piece of leather off his shoulder

* * *

Earth: Long:

Excalibur/Sword of Gryffindor. Used by _Harry Potter_. Has many, different forms; ? total. So far, Harry knows of Excalibur, the wind arming sword; and Clarent, the fire ceremonial sword. He knows Excalibur's activation words (Take Me Away!) but not Clarent's. Once owned by Godric Gryffindor, King Arthur, Uther Pendragon and ?.

Wand of Phoenix Feather Core and Holly Wood. Owned by _Harry Potter_. With a 'holy' wood and a creature of light's feather, the wand has an aptitude for light magics. Moreover, combined with Harry's natural skill, it empowers any defensive spell he casts.

Galahad. Classified as Multi-Length, Jousting Lance. Owned by _Neville Longbottom_. A mecha-shift weapon, it can extend to multiple lengths depending on the dial behind the large, cone shaped guard.

Wand of Unicorn Hair Core and Cherry Wood. Owned by _Neville Longbottom_. His second wand. The cherry wood has a notorious history of creating deadly and powerful wands. Combined with the tail hair of unicorn, that of which produces rather stable magic, creates a rather powerful dueling wand.

Kitty. Classified as Dual Length Hand Claws. Modeled after Bagh Naka claws. Owned by _Daphne Greengrass_. Daphne uses this as her main melee weapon. A mecha-shift weapon that extends length when it is rotated in a clockwise position.

Cress. Classified as Momentum Shifting Sickle-Dagger. Modeled after a lengthened Swiss Dagger. Owned by _Daphne Greengrass_. Is Daphne's secondary melee weapon. Mecha-shifts when swung in a particular way. Very similar to a gravity knife.

Wand of Dragon Heartstring Core and Dogwood. Owned by _Daphne Greengrass_. The Dragon heartstring provides a powerful yet flamboyant types of magic. Dogwood are mischievous, teasing and playful. They also bond to those who grow very loyal to those who they consider their friends.

Lightspeed. Classified as Shifting Bullet, Forceful Revolver. Modeled after short barreled Colt Python. Owned by _Hermione Granger_. Unlike other Remnant weapons, does not mecha-shift. However, the revolving, six round cylinder has colored coded rims around individual cylinders. Unlike some revolvers, the cylinder cannot detach from the gun but instead, each bullet must be loaded one-by-one. The colors are Regular - Gray. Explosive - Orange. Piercing - Green. Electric/Paralyze - Yellow. Shotgun, Incendiary - Red. Ice/Freeze - Light Blue. In clockwise position.

Wand of Dragon Heartstring and Vinewood. Owned by _Hermione Granger_. Vinewood are for those with hidden powers and marvelous feats.

 **D~~~~~R**

Remnant: Short

 _RWBY:_

 **Ruby Rose** , owns Crescent Rose. Classified as High Caliber Sniper-Scythe. Semblance is super speed. Leaves behind rose petals.

 **Weiss Schnee** , owns Myrtenaster. Classified as Multi-Action, Dust Rapier. Semblance is glyphs and summoning. Glyph Symbol is her family insignia.

 **Blake Belladonna** , owns Gambol Shroud. Classified as Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe. Semblance is shadow clones. Can be augmented by Dust.

 **Yang Xiao-Long** , owns Ember Celica. Classified as Dual Ranged Shot Gauntlets. Semblance is empowering fire and rage. Activated and built up by taking hits and intense emotions, mostly anger.

 _JNPR:_

 **Jaune Arc** , owns Crocea Mors. Classified as Indestructible, Knightly Sword and Sheath. Semblance is unknown. Implied to be complete Aura control.

 **Nora Valkyrie** , owns Magnhild. Classified as Grenade Launching War Hammer. Semblance is electricity manipulation. Electricity can also empower her.

 **Pyrrha Nikos** , owns Milo and Akouo. Classified as Multi-Form Blade-Rifle and Highly Durable, Disc Shield, respectively. Semblance is polarity. Very powerful, very variable, near unstoppable.

 **Lie Ren** , owns StormFlower. Classified as Dual Form, Pistol-Sickle. Semblance is unknown. Implied to be advanced Aura control.


End file.
